Divided Paths
by mg56
Summary: Suppose that after their initial flight from Townsville, only two of the girls returned. Years later, when the third does too, her intention is to destroy all life on the planet. Dragonball Z parody.
1. The Return

Consider this; having left planet earth due to there rejection by the people of Townsville, what if the girls had not returned to save them? Actually, most of you probably have considered that, and I believe some one else has already written about it too. So instead, lets consider what if two of the girls returned, but one kept on running away? Until many years latter they did return, with a completely different objective. (Those of you who know where the "Z" comes from for the Japanese spin off series might recognise the plot.)

**1. The Return**

It was a wonderful sunny morning. The birds chirped sweetly in the morning breeze that was warmed by the golden light. Most of the citizens of Townsville could not enjoy such an environment, since they should either be at school or work. For a moment, Fuzzy Lumpkins may even have had some sympathy for them. Not a long moment though, since he was far too busy running the atmosphere with his banjo. Townsville woods echoed to the song of his enthusiastic strumming, which was just the way Fuzzy liked it.

His music (if you could call it that) drowned out the sound of an approaching object. As it plummeted to the earth in fact, almost no one saw it. Fuzzy himself didn't notice it until it flew right over his head, knocking the chimney off the top of his hut, and rather more annoyingly as far as Fuzzy was concerned, blowing him off his rocking chair.

The Lumpkin found his feet in time to see the object smash into the ground a few feet out side "his" property, sending dust, mud and a few trees flying into the air. A normal person might have been scared by this, or perhaps curious. Fuzzy however was (predictably) livid. Snatching his gun from the rack, he stomped off towards the creator, snarling furiously.

It didn't take him long to get there, and Fuzzy lowered the muzzle of his gun aggressively into it. "Alright you dirt bag!" he bellowed, "Come on here or I'll blow you out!" There was no response, which wasn't surprising, since the damage had been caused by an inanimate object. Covered with dust from the impact, it seemed to be a rock. Unbothered by this technicality, Fuzzy took his aim. "I warned you!" he declared, and fired.

There was a lot of smoke and a direct hit, but predictably no significant damage. The impact did however blow off the dust, revealing the object fully. It was a white sphere, nestling gently at the bottom of the creator. Fuzzy had never seen anything like it before, but being a generally homebound creature, this wasn't too rare an occurrence for Fuzzy. It didn't however seem like anything from Townsville. This made it even more alien to him.

All the birds had fled, and the breeze was now still. In the silence, Fuzzy could only hear two sounds; his own breathing and a gently humming. The latter sound was coming from the white object. It almost seemed alive.

Fuzzy was now well and truly spooked. His usual courage was waning rapidly, but he still barked another instruction. "Get off my Property!" he yelled, but even he noticed that he lacked his usual authority. He was just clearing his throat to have another go, when suddenly, the object lurched. Fuzzy jumped, and opened fire again. This time it was even more pointless, because he hadn't reloaded yet. As the Lumpkin fumbled around from some shot, the object lurched again, and from the far side, a door opened slowly.

Moments latter, a figure slowly emerged. Fuzzy watched, silenced by fear as it stood up outside its "ship," and slowly floated into the air, before hovering with its feet just above the lip of the creator. With its back to him, Fuzzy could not see its face. He could tell however, that the creature was human in form, and he could see its long orange hair, that reached the being's ankles. Initially, it didn't do much, just glanced from side to side a few times, as if it was taking the environment in. Then, Fuzzy's amazement, it spoke to its self in pain English.

"Ah, Earth," the creature said in a clearly female voice. "Feels just as wretched as I remember." She sniggered quietly to herself. "This time however, the destruction I'm going to spread shall be intentional!"

Its words did not phase Fuzzy. What was important to him was that the creature no longer seemed alien. It may be hovering above the ground, and it may have come from some funny white space ship, but it was still an insolent human, and it was still on his property! He stood up as tall as he could, his confidence restored.

"Hey, you!" he snarled. The creature didn't move. Fuzzy lost his legendarily short temper. "Get off my property!" he roared. "This is your last warning!"

This time, the creature turned around. Fuzzy's assumption that it was female was confirmed as correct. She was fairly tall, and of a medium build, but toned to such an extent that you could even describe her as muscular. She wore a light pink skin tight full body suit, with clean white gloves that reached half way up her fore arms, and white heelless boots that climbed to just below her knees. Her upper body was additionally covered by a half inch think white armour, which had been designed to protect major organs with out restricting movement of the neck and limbs. Her face was round, and had four deep scars running all the way across it. But the most notable feature was her eyes. One of them was covered by a red visor that extended from a small box that was fitted to her ear, (that was mostly covered by her hair of course) but the other one was unobstructed. Her iris was a light pink, but it was the style of the eye that caught Fuzzy's attention. The eyes themselves, where staring pointedly at the gun.

"Yes," said the girl, politely yet in a cool enough manor to be threatening.

"You… Your one of 'em Powerpuff Girls!" he scowled. (The lack of a nose had also tipped him off.)

This finally seemed to get the girls full attention. "Pardon?" she said sharply.

Fuzzy took a step forward. "Your sisters are always here, bothering me, invading my property!" he gestured with his gun. "Get outta here or I'll blow you out!"

To his annoyance, the Girl laughed. She even shut her eyes. "I'm afraid you must be mistaken, fool. For a start, I'm not a Powerp… whatever you said. On top of that, this property is yours no longer."

"What!" roared Fuzzy. "Why you…!" he fired the gun, blasting a wave of shot towards the invader. To his amazement, the girl didn't flinch, she just moved her hand so fast, that Fuzzy barely saw it move. It dashed smoothly and effortlessly through the air, and to the Lumpkins' horror, caught the shot.

Fuzzy stepped backwards shaking with fear. "What... how…?"

The girl just smiled a wicked smile. "Is that the traditional earth greeting?" she asked sweetly. Fuzzy, petrified, could not reply. "I see," she continued with mock understanding. "Well please allow me to return your kind gesture." With a flick of her wrist, she hurled the shot back at Fuzzy, who flinched as it struck him in the chest. He felt no pain – it had come at him too fast for that. Instead he took one staggering step, and then collapsed to the ground.

Blossom sneered at the pathetic creature, slightly annoyed with herself. It wasn't that she hadn't meant to kill him, it was just that she should have used the scouter (the device on her ear) to take a reading of his power level first. It was important to know how strong these earthlings where, since she was about to march into a city full of them.

Old memories began to bloom in her mind, and she reflected that this... thing wasn't typical of the normal creatures on this planet. So it had been a small mistake, but no matter. This being the first time she'd been sent to a planet on her own, she was allowed a few screw ups.

The words of the creature however, still floated through her mind. Her sisters? Surely Bubbles and Buttercup had been killed by the humans they'd returned to help. She'd tried to stop them from returning, but they hadn't listened. For the first few years of her life, Blossom had often wondered what had become of Bubbles and Buttercup, but she had now long since forgotten about them. Or at least stopped caring.

Now however, if they were still alive, it meant they might pose a large threat to her mission. The computers back at base hadn't picked up any particularly strong warriors when scanning the planet, which was why she'd been given the job. Then again, they hadn't scanned for as long as Blossom would have liked.

"Fine," she muttered to herself. "If they are alive, I wouldn't mind a chance for revenge against them too." She reached up and pressed a button on the side of her scouter. Numbers began to flash on the visor, and soon enough, it picked up two power levels that were stronger then average, locating them a short distance to the east. Blossom nodded to herself.

"Good," she said calmly. "I hope they're ready for the fight of they're all too short lives, because I want this entire planet to know who destroyed them and why!" With that, she surged into the air, leaving her pink energy trail stretching out behind.


	2. The Piccolo Roll

**2. The Piccalo Roll  
**

With his back pressed up against the rear of one of Townsville's many warehouses, Butch grumpily hurled a ball against a wall. It bounced back in a predictable manor, allowing him to catch it with out adjusting his position. Boomer watched, bored.

"Give me a go Butch!" he whined. "You've had it for hours!"

This was of course a gross over estimate, but Butch couldn't be bothered to argue this time. "Fine," he said handing it over. "Its not exactly stimulating me."

"Better then standing here doing nothing," Boomer hurled it against the wall unnecessarily hard, "which we wouldn't have to do if you weren't so scared…"

Butch whirled around and grabbed Boomer by the neck, leaving the ball to roll gently away. "I am not scared!" he hissed.

"Then why don't we go and take them on," replied Boomer, who was not particularly bothered by Butch's aggression – it was a regular occurrence. "I mean you're much stronger then Buttercup and I'm more powerful then Bubbles…"

"True," replied Butch, loosening his grip slightly, "but if you remember, you always loose to Bubbles before I have time to pound Buttercup and then they double team me!"

"Its not my fault that Buttercup is skilled enough to negate your extra strength," Boomer mumbled, pointed out the detail that Butch had carefully omitted. "But I only loose to Bubbles because she's faster then me, and I've been working really hard on that! She won't stand a chance! Then we can gang up on Buttercup!"

"NO!" Butch replied firmly. "We're not ready yet." He lowered Boomer to the ground. "We need more time to train, and we can't do that properly in jail! All we have to do today is pick up those parts Mojo wants, while avoiding any trouble with those girls! Then we can train as much as we want." He looked at the ground and tightened his fist. "When we defeat them Boomer, it shall be crushing. So much so, we will make them beg for mercy before we choke the life out of them!"

Boomer chuckled. "I'll look forward to that."

"But," Butch added, "until them, we avoid them and do as Mojo says. We need him, for now."

"Yes sir," Boomer replied, snapping to attention. Butch laughed.

"Alright solider," Butch barked, in his best army tone, "Give me an update on the Powerpuff Girls' current position."

Boomer focused, furrowing his brow. Presently, he was able to lock on to Buttercup's and Bubbles' power signals, an ability he had developed recently that Butch was in awe of. Not that he'd admit it.

"There still around the town hall," Boomer said eventually. "Been there all morning, must be waiting for something. Maybe they've got a tip off."

"That or they're skipping school," Butch chuckled. "Still, we can't move until they… Boomer, what is it?"

The colour had drained from his brother's face, and he was staring at a distant point in the sky, his lip wobbling. "I've picked something else up," he squeaked.

"What?"

"A huge power, heading straight for us!"

Butch swung round to look where his brother was staring. In the distance he could make out a stream of Pink energy surging towards them. It did not remain distant for long.

"Okay Boomer," he muttered to his petrified brother, "I'll handle this. I mean it can't be that strong!" Boomer did not appear to agree, as he slipped in behind his brother just before the source of the power arrived.

Blossom landed, looking at them intently. Butch decided to take the lead. "Can I help you stranger," he said calmly.

Blossom blinked slowly and smiled in a relaxed manor, too relaxed for Butch's liking. "I'm sorry, you are not the people I am looking for," she said, "but allow me to introduce myself. My name is Blossom, and I'm looking for two creatures that I believe you refer to as the Powderpuff girls?"

"Powerpuff," Butch corrected before he could stop himself.

"Whatever," Blossom shrugged. "Can you help me with this quest?"

She's nuts, Butch thought. Who talks like that? He was also rather concerned as to why Boomer was still shaking. "What do you want them for?" he demanded.

"Oh, I just want to destroy the two of them," Blossom replied. "They could stand in the way of my mission to eradicate all life on the planet."

"What!" Boomer squeaked, still from behind his brother, who merely gritted his teeth.

Blossom paused, and tightened up slightly. "Then again, since I mistook your power reading for theirs', you two might be a slight obstacle as well."

"Slight obstacle?" Butch sniffed, his confidence undiminished. "Do you have any idea who you are talking too?"

"Oh, how rude of me," Blossom smirked. "I haven't allowed you to introduce your selves. Please go ahead. I mean I do need to know what to put on your tombstones."

Butch scowled. "I'm Butch and this is my brother Boomer. He is the most powerful being on this planet, and I am the strongest. Together we are the RowdyRuff Boys, and no one threatens us!"

"Yeah!" added Boomer, suddenly leaping out from behind his brother, confidence apparently restored. "If you think you can beat us, you're in for a big surprise!"

Blossom sighed a heavy, resigned sigh. "Do you know how many times I've heard that?" she said. "Still, I'll check your power levels, it's not as if I have anything better to do." She pressed the button on the side of her scouter and the numbers began to flash once more on the visor. Butch watched. He was nervous, yet curious. Boomer had taken a step back.

Eventually the numbers settled and the scouter beeped to show its work was done. Blossom raised an eyebrow. "Well, it appears I've underestimated you," she said, "those power levels are quite impressive. Two hundred and fifty each, that's more then one hundred times stronger then the average inhabitant of this planet."

"Ha!" Butch cried. "I knew we'd be fine Boomer!" His brother didn't share his celebration though, as Blossom hadn't finished.

"However," she continued, an evil smile spreading across her face, "There would need to be forty of you "Rowdyruffs" to defeat me."

"Don't make me laugh!" Butch scoffed. "I'll beat you in one punch!" He leapt forward into the air toward Blossom, pulling his arm right back, before at the last moment diving down low and sinking his fist deep into Blossom's stomach. The pink puff didn't even blink, she just gave Butch a look of contempt.

"Was that an attack?" she asked. Butch growled, and jerked him self up right, swinging an upper cut at Blossom's chin. This time she simply leant backwards out the way, allowing Butch to thrash at fresh air. Gritting his teeth, the Ruff was about to strike again when he got a shout from behind.

"Butch, duck!" bellowed Boomer. Butch obeyed automatically, allowing his brother to lob the energy ball that he'd been painstakingly building up during the previous few minutes. It was a fairly big one, and he scored a direct hit. "Got her!" he bellowed delightedly, as the explosion engulfed Blossom in a cloud of smoke.

Butch scrabbled back across into position beside him. "Good work bro," he declared, confidence returned. "Of course I would have taken her eventually," he added, "but this way is quicker."

Boomer's enthusiasm had already vanished. "No… it wasn't enough!"

"What!" Butch choked, but the smoke was peeling away to show that Boomer was right. Blossom way still stood there, uninjured and unfazed, with her hands resting gently behind her back.

"Now do you understand?" she replied softly, "or shall I give a further demonstration?" The boys had no response: they were not used to this. Blossom waited for a moment, before chuckling slowly. "Very well then," she continued, raising her right hand into the sky beside her head, "watch the birdie…"

Almost immediately pink energy began to surge around her hand, building up around it faster then the Ruffs had ever seen. They could do nothing but brace themselves for impact.

"Ready?" asked Blossom, as lightening blots crackled off the energy around her hand, causing not unnoticeable damage to the nearby warehouses and the ground.

Butch glanced at his brother. "When she fires, we split, got it." He hissed. "She can't hit us both." Boomer nodded.

"Not very talkative are you!" Blossom was now laughing aloud. She flexed her arm back slightly. "If you want to change your last words, now's the…"

She was interrupted by her scouter, which suddenly started beeping again. Blossom let the energy she'd built up die away in an instant. "That's them!" she declared. "You've got a lucky break guys," she continued, returning her attention to her former targets. "But let me give you a word of advice: Run. Flee this planet now. There will be no second chance." With that and a blast of pink energy, she was gone.

Boomer and Butch watched them go, with gritted teeth. Eventually, Butch spoke.

"This could be trouble," he said.


	3. The Happy Reunion

Before I continue, there are three quick notes. Firstly, sorry for the delay, a little thing called exams got in the way. Secondly, thanks to those who have reviewed thus far, I'm very grateful for your support/input. And thirdly, apologies for the slightly strange piece of casting in the up coming chapter. Those who know DBZ might see what I'm doing, but the rest of you shall have to bear with me for a bit. Sorry.

**3. The Happy Reunion**

As we know, there were times at which three Powerpuff Girls struggled with the duty of protecting Townsville. So with this set up, it sometimes seemed almost impossible for just two Puffs, especially since they were missing the natural leader. Hence they had had to develop some different techniques.

For a start, Buttercup had assumed the position of leader which due to her rather "basic" tactics meant that Bubbles had assumed the position of having to ignore her when circumstances dictated it. Other then that, the two of them had worked hard to maximise the areas in which they were already very strong.

Buttercup had focused on her fighting skill to add to her considerable natural talent. A black belt in every martial art she could think of (plus a few she'd made up to impress Bubbles,) Buttercup was also the reigning World Martial Arts champion having defeated an infuriated Butch in the final.

Bubbles on the other hand had targeted her considerable internal power, hidden behind her innocent, friendly natural shell. Unable to cope with the head-on bludgeoning style of combat that Buttercup favoured, she had instead worked on delivering high speed finishing blows without having to engage in a battle of attrition. Now the self-proclaimed fastest being on the planet, she was also in Blossom's absence the Powerpuff's negotiator.

This was now quite a heavy duty, since it wasn't always possible for the Girls to beat everyone head on. Sure, in a fight they were almost unbeatable, but if their enemy chose to try an out wit them rather then out fight them, Buttercup and Bubbles could quickly find themselves in a mess. A solution came from one of two sources. One commonly used option was to play multiple villains off against each other. They'd got quite good at this, but it did entail certain sacrifices (such as allowing Mojo to live unmolested in a massive volcano in the centre of town.)

Of course the preferred option was to turn to the Professor for advice or a scientific solution. There virtual father was always delighted to be able to help, especially since it allowed them to spend time together.

Neither of them ever mentioned Blossom, it was easier that way. But thoughts… thoughts are different. With time however, even these had faded.

Half a year ago they did receive an uncomfortable reminder. Due to a different balance in the chemical X energy pattern on in the area due to Blossom's absence (i.e. a massive plot hole,) Mojo Jojo's attempt to create the Rowdyruff Boys had only made two, initially anyway. It fact there had just been a delayed reaction, but when Brick was eventually created, Mojo decided that he was quite happy with just two Ruffs that depended on him to an extent. Give them a leader of there own and the three of them might get ideas...

Hence Brick had been placed secretly in suspended animation, until six months ago, when Mojo decided to dump him on Bubbles and Buttercup to allow him to escape from a particularly unsuccessful attempt to destroy them. The red ruff had not aged and had no memory so the Professor had taken him in. With a firm hand and a bar of soap, he had managed to mould Brick into an obedient, sensible little boy. Well, almost managed.

"I don't want to go back to school!" Brick whined at his older sisters. "Why can't I fight crime with you?"

Buttercup rolled her eyes. "For the last time, because we don't need your help," she replied tiredly. "Besides, it's too dangerous for someone as young as you."

"But you were fighting at my age," Brick protested.

"That was completely different," Buttercup snapped. She was getting fed up of this. The two puffs were quite fond of their adopted younger brother, but like all siblings he could be very irritating at times

"How?"

"Because when we started there wasn't anyone else to do it." Bubbles jumped in to rescue her increasingly angry sister. "Now we are here which means you don't have to put your self in danger."

"And you would be putting your self in danger," Buttercup added quickly before Brick could protest, "because nowadays the villains have lots of cunning tactics to use against us. You don't have our level of experience, so there is no way you could handle it."

"Yes, but I can't again experience if you never let me experience the experience!" Brick moaned. It took Bubbles and Buttercup a few moments to work out what he was on about.

"Maybe, but in the end it's the Professor's decision," Buttercup declared firmly.

"When he says you can help us, we'll be happy to have you along," Bubbles finished cheerfully.

"Like heck with will," muttered Buttercup, but she kept that thought to herself.

Brick looked rather deflated, as he always did. Bubbles felt slightly sorry for him.

"Perhaps we could let him watch," she suggested to her sister. Bricks eyes lit up.

"Really? Oh please!" he begged.

Buttercup relented. "Fine, but as soon as we've finished I'm escorting you straight back to School, okay!"

Brick nodded enthusiastically, before pausing. "What am I watching?" he asked.

"We got a tip off of an illegal gun shipment that is being brought into town to day," Bubbles replied. She pointed down the street past the Town Hall. "The police are going to try and stop them at the dock, but in the likely event that the fools try to run for it they're going to direct them down here, straight to us."

"Why don't the police deal with it them selves?" Brick asked.

"They don't want to get into a gun fight, apparently," Buttercup replied grumpily. "Not since the Mayor decided he could reduce tax by half a percent if he restricted the police to one bullet each per year."

"Ah."

Presently, there was the distant roar of the diesel engine of a large truck having the life thrashed out of it by a rather desperate driver. Buttercup rubbed her hands. "Customers!" she declared gleefully as the vehicle lumbered into view (with several police cars in not-too-close pursuit.)

"Right Brick, you stay here," she declared authoritively, "and Bubbles, leave the best thugs to me alright!"

"Ha," Bubbles laughed. "I'll have knocked them all out before you even arrive."

"Yeah, well you've never managed yet…"

This gentle mocking ceased abruptly when the truck suddenly and dramatically exploded. The blast sent the police cars flying into the air and shattered most of the windows on either side of the street, as well as knocking the three spectating Puffs/Ruff off their feet. As the debris landed around them, Buttercup and Bubbles slowly picked them selves up, and looked in disbelief at the creator, and the burnt out shell of the Truck.

"How did that happen?" Buttercup asked, trying to piece together what had just happened in her mind.

"Maybe one of them dropped a cigarette on the ammo or something," Bubbles suggested.

Buttercup shook her head. "I saw a red flash just before it went off… Brick! You didn't have anything to do with this did you?" She whirled round, but too her surprise, Brick wasn't even looking at the explosion. He was staring at something in the sky above them.

Bubbles turned round too and let out a little shriek. "What! That can't…"

"I know…" whispered Buttercup, as a figure landed softly before them. It may have been many years, she may have been wearing strange clothes and her face may have been heavily scarred, but both Bubbles and Buttercup instantly recognised their long lost sister.

"Blossom?" Bubbles whispered. "Is it really you?"

Blossom managed a half smile. "Glad to see you remember my name Bubbles," she said tonelessly. Her lack of emotion didn't prevent Bubbles from showing hers.

"It really is you!" she cried, her eye's welling up with tear as she sped towards her sister.

"Careful Bubbles!" Buttercup ordered, but Bubbles continued towards her third sister until she was a few inches away, when Blossom seemed to disappear.

Bubbles stopped abruptly, rubbing her eyes. "Err, where did she go?" she asked, looking around confusedly.

Buttercup was also searching, but in a far less relaxed manor. Brick, whose boyish courage had rapidly vanished, was hanging off her trouser leg.

"Who is that sis?" he asked nervously.

Buttercup wasn't listening. "Dam it, where could she have gone?" she bellowed.

Bubbles looked at her feet. "Maybe we imagined her?" she suggested. "Or some villain is using an illusion to mess with our minds. I mean no one can move that fast."

"Oh ye of little faith," said Blossom smugly. The two Puffs whirled around to see Blossom standing behind them, looking extremely purposeful.

"Umm, Blossom?" asked Bubbles nervously. Brick was now effectively hiding behind Buttercup, who was gritting her teeth.

"Sorry Bubbles," Blossom spoke in a calm yet threatening tone. "I don't feel like a hug just yet. I would, however, like to know how come you are still alive?"

"Err, well when we returned to earth we sort of defeated the evil Monkey and then everyone liked us again," Bubbles explained embarrassedly. "The two of us are now the heroes of the city, the…"

"Powerpuff Girls," Blossom spat the word. "Yes, I heard." She glanced around at the surrounding city, a look of derision on a face. "What a shallow species occupies this planet," she continued. "One moment they "hate" something and the next they "love" it."

"Umm…" Bubbles started. She didn't really know what to make of this.

Blossom looked over to her other sister. "What's the matter Buttercup?" she asked. "You look like you are expecting trouble."

"Maybe," Buttercup replied tightly. "Why don't you tell us where you've been all these years Blossom."

"Oh not much to tell really," Blossom replied. "I drifted through space completely alone for a while before the comet crash landed on a planet. Unfortunately it's inhabitants weren't very welcoming, so I ended up living alone on the street in some alien city, kept alive only by my hatred. I remained there until Lord Freeza decided to conquer the planet.

"Lord Freeza?" asked Bubbles.

"The ruler of most of the universe," Blossom explained. "Well, the most powerful member of the ruling family anyway. He sent an army to seize the planet, made up of three Saiyans." She looked slightly wistful. "They had so much power, nothing could stop them. No one who resisted survived." She ran a finger down one of her facial scares. "I barely made it myself. Anyway, the government had no choice but to surrender, and as soon as Freeza had established an administrative structure there, I signed up."

"So you're a solider?" Bubbles asked.

"One of the best," Blossom replied.

"That's all rubbish!" Buttercup bellowed. "Three beings couldn't take over an entire planet, no matter how strong!" Then she thought for a moment. "Hang on," she stuttered, "are you here now for work or pleasure!"

Before Blossom could answer, the Mayor, with a suitably sized entourage emerged from the town hall. "What's all this racket about?" he blustered loudly. Blossom turned round, and eventually recognised him. Her face twisted.

"Ah, him." She said bluntly. The Mayor, although still a good distance away, looked at Blossom and stopped.

"Err, girls, who is this?" he asked Bubbles and Buttercup.

Blossom replied for them. "The pickle destroyer!" She shouted, swinging her hand up in front of her, and firing a blast straight towards the Mayor. Bubbles and Buttercup gasped, but Blossom's attack only vaporised the Mayor's hat as it skimmed just above his head, before slamming into the town hall, which immediately burst into flames.

"Oh my…" burbled the Mayor.

"Woops, I missed," Blossom said, but she sounded very pleased with her self. Buttercup and Bubbles didn't even pause to give are a dirty look. The two heroes immediately charged into action, flying rapidly around the hall to try and blow out the fire.

Blossom watched them, slowly shaking her head. "Fools," she muttered. Behind her, now on his own, Brick watched furiously.

"Murderer," he hissed, and with a burst of red energy he leapt up and swung a kick at Blossom's head. Actually, he didn't get as far as the swinging, for Blossom rapidly stuck out an arm and grabbed the kid around the neck.

"Has no one ever told you that only dishonourable losers launch sneak attacks, little brother?" she asked, squeezing his neck. Brick could only gasp desperately for breath, his eyes filled with fear. Blossom smiled, an idea forming in her head. "Relax kid," she said, easing her grip slightly, "I want you alive, for now." Taking a deep breath, she blew hard over brick, encasing securely in a block of ice to avoid further struggling.

In the meantime, Bubbles and Buttercup had finished putting out the fire, as most of the workforce staggered out of the battered building. Bubbles' quickly picked out a coughing Ms Bellum, and swooped down towards her. "Has everyone got out?" she asked worriedly.

"I think so," Ms Bellum chocked. "Lucky escape I guess."

"HA!" Blossom bellowed. "Why did you bother saving those fools my sisters? Do you not remember how they used to loath you!"

Buttercup swung round shaking with rage. "What the hell has got into you!" she roared. "You can't just kill them all!" Then she noticed. "Ah shoot, she's got Brick!"

A large crowd had now formed, as they generally did in Townsville at times of crisis. Blossom, with the frozen Brick tucked under her arm, hovered ten metres above them. Buttercup and Bubbles raced up to her height, stopping a few feet short of their sister.

"Alright Blossom," Buttercup said furiously, "I want you to… give your self up. Now!"

"Yeah," Bubbles added. "Give us Brick back and then we can help you, get you back to normal."

Blossom looked deeply unimpressed. "I'm giving the orders here," Blossom replied, "and this time you will obey me, or I'll force you too." Bubbles and Buttercup gritted their teeth.

"Then why are you here?" asked Buttercup.

"I'm here on a mission from Lord Freeza," Blossom said bluntly. "This planet, which I believe you call earth, has been sold as the location for a new galactic holiday resort."

"Pardon!" gabbled the Puffs as the crowd below gasped.

"Yes," Blossom replied calmly, "you see the unusually varied climate here makes it ideal. Hot deserts, lush forests, snowy mountains, golden beeches, it's all here. Soon earth will be _the_holiday destinations for all of the loyal citizens of Freeza."

"But your Lord… whatever can't sell it," Bubbles protested, "its not his!"

"Now that is a temporary problem, I'll admit," Blossom replied, "which is why I am here. I have been set the task of removing all the unsightly and irritating intelligent life, so that the developers can move in. And on top of that I get my revenge."

"That's disgusting!" Bubbles shrieked.

"Not really," Blossom replied. "Freeza's armies do this sort of thing all the time. Normally however, the soldiers don't get quite this much enjoyment."

"NO!" wailed Buttercup. "I won't let you. We won't let you! Now give us back Brick!" She charged towards Blossom, roaring with rage. Blossom sighed.

"Oh honestly, I'm getting really tired of this," she said.

"You'll be even more tired when I break your skull!" Buttercup bellowed, as she swung a punch. To her horror, Blossom caught it effortlessly. The green puff was about to try another attack when Blossom kneed her hard in the gut, completely winding her. That down, Blossom still gripping her had, swung Buttercup over her shoulder like a rag doll straight into Bubbles, who was trying an attack from behind. The two battered Puffs fell to the floor in a heap, as the crowd gasped in horror (again.)

Blossom landed just in front of them. "Now, sisters, I was going to kill you and all the people of this stupid city, for my revenge. However, I don't seem to hate you two as much as I thought I did, so although it is against my better judgement, I'm going to give you a chance to live. So listen carefully." Buttercup and Bubbles, writhing on the floor in pain, but no choice but to. Blossom continued. "You have five days to kill the entire population of this city. Yes… I like that. Nice and ironic. If you do that little task for me, I will release your little brother and allow you to join me. If you fail, I will make sure that you and Brick die a very slow and painful death, before I kill everyone anyway." She drifted into the air again. "While you wrestle with the moral dilemma, I think I'll make a start on the surrounding area. I do hope you chose wisely." And with a brief manic cackle, she and the captured Brick were gone.


	4. Unlikey Alliance

**4. Unlikely Alliance**

As the crowd started the customary panic and the Mayor hurried off to declare a state of emergency, Bubbles and Buttercup staggered to their feet.

"She's completely flipped," Bubbles said sacredly, as she rubbed her head. "What now?"

Buttercup was clutching her side, obviously in a lot of pain, but a mask of determination (or pain) covered her face. "We've got to get after her!" she declared, as she tried to straighten up.

Bubbles jumped. "We can't!" she squeaked. "Buttercup no, we're not strong enough and your hurt!"

"I'm not hurt," Buttercup gasped. "She only caught me off guard."

"Buttercup, you're delusional…"

"Dam it Bubbles!" Buttercup yelled, loud enough to catch the attention of some of the surrounding crowd. "Blossom's got Brick remember!"

"I know, I know." Bubbles tried to calm her sister down. "But getting our selves killed is not going to help him at all. We have five days, why don't we go see the Professor and use them to find a solution? There must be some safe way of stopping her."

Buttercup took a few deep breaths, starring furiously at her sister. She was clearly annoyed, but tried to marshal her words sensitively. "Bubbles, what do you think Blossom is going to do while we "find a solution? Sit around and wait?" Bubbles lowered her head slightly, as her sister continued. "She is going to kill millions of people Bubbles, you know that!"

"We're not strong enough to stop her…" Bubbles began.

"Maybe, but its better to die trying then not to try at all!" Buttercup declared. "Trust me Bubbles, she's not as strong as she seemed – she can't be. Now we know what we are up against, I know we can take her."

Bubbles pondered this for a moment. "Yeah, maybe you are right. If we're smart, and she is blinded by her arrogance, we might just do it."

"Of course," Buttercup put an arm on her sister's shoulder. "Besides, going straight after her is the last think she'd expect, she we'll have the element of surprise too!"

"Your right," Bubbles agreed, forcing her self to be optimistic. "If you look at it that way the odds aren't that long!"

"If you two really believe that then you are far stupider then you look," interrupted a new voice. Bubbles and Buttercup whirled round to see Butch and Boomer, hovering above the town hall, both looking very grim.

"Ah great," Bubbles muttered. "What next?"

The two Ruff's landed opposite them, Boomer behind his brother, who took the lead. "We have had the dubious pleasure of meeting your sister earlier," Butch declared, "and trust me, she is far more then you can handle. If you attack her now, I assure you that you will both die."

"How do you figure that one," Buttercup snorted.

"Simple," Butch replied calmly. "Blossom is so fast that she can completely neutralise Bubbles as a risk. She'll be dead in minutes, and although you could probably hurt her Buttercup my dear," (he loaded the word with scorn) "there is no way you could take her on your own."

"We don't have time for you today!" Buttercup spat back, trying to ignore the fact that Bubbles had visibly slumped.

"Well I suggest you make some," Butch shot back, "because I am the solution."

"Pardon!" Bubbles and Buttercup chocked in chorus.

Butch looked at his feet. "As much as it sickens me, I see no other way to stop Blossom other then us working together. The offer is this; Bubbles and Boomer can stay here and work with your Professor and Mojo – who _will _agree – on a scientific solution, while me and you take her head on!"

"Why not take all of us?" Buttercup asked, suspiciously.

"Because its never wise to put all your eggs in one basket," Butch replied. "Besides," he added, tightening his fist. "We won't need their help, and you'll fight better if your not worrying about Bubbles."

"It seems to make sense sis," Bubbles said to Buttercup. "This way we get the best of both worlds!"

Buttercup uncharacteristically hesitated. "How do I know you won't turn on me?" she asked.

Butch sneered. "Since you never believe I word I say, I'd guess that you don't. But I'm sure you can also see that it is not in our best interests for your crazy sister to destroy the planet. Ruling a dead world will not be an achievement."

"Is that why Mojo should help too?" Bubbles asked. Butch nodded, allowing the blue puff to think for a moment. "That's hardly a noble motivation to save the world."

"Which means it's the genuine one," Buttercup replied, smiling slightly. "Alright Butch, you're on!"

Butch nodded. "Good. If you can stomach working with me then I can cope with working with you. But just to be clear on this, once the pink eyed alien freak is dead, this Alliance is over, got it!"

"Fine by me," Buttercup replied.

Butch turned to his brother. "Boomer," he asked, "can you sense where Blossom went?"

Boomer focused for a moment. It didn't take him long to locate the largest power in range. "She's heading towards Cityville," Boomer declared, before pausing for a moment. "Gee, she's not going to like the no superpower laws they have there."

Buttercup ignored this last comment. "Let's get after her then," she declared. "Don't stress Mojo or the Professor too much Bubbles," she added, "I'll be back with Brick before you know it!"

"Alright Buttercup, good luck," Bubbles replied, more confidently then she felt. "I think you are going to need it."

"Don't let her push you around Butch," Boomer joked. Butch stared at him hard.

"Same to you," he replied, in a dangerous tone, before turning to Buttercup. "Ready?" Buttercup nodded, and without a further word the two Green streaks raced off.

Bubbles stared after them worriedly, wondering if she'd ever see them again. Then, to her side, she noticed Boomer almost shaking with excitement.

"Alright!" he burst out suddenly in glee. "Can you believe that? The two strongest beings on the planet working together! If anyone can stop Blossom they can! We might just live through this!" He raised a hand towards Bubbles as if expecting a high five. The Puff just stared at him coldly.

"Just go get Mojo Boomer," she said in harsh tones.

The Blue Ruff looked slight hurt. "No, you get the Professor and bring him to Mojo's," he protested. "His lab is far better equipped for destroying Puffs. Besides, that will give me time to smooth this over with him."

Bubbles nodded, slowly so as to keep and eye on Boomer. "Okay then, see you in fifteen minutes, and don't try anything." She shot off, leaving Boomer alone and unimpressed.

"What, does she think I want to die?" he muttered to himself, before flying off towards Mojo's mountain.

* * *

As they raced towards Cityville, Butch glanced over to Buttercup. "So, a third sister," he muttered. "Your family's dark secret?"

Buttercup nodded. "You could say so."

"Tell me," Butch asked, "how does your sister turn out to be evil?"

Buttercup sighed. "I don't want to talk about it," she replied.

"Am I to take it then she wasn't created evil," Butch asked.

"Does it matter!" Buttercup snapped.

Butch grinned evilly. "It sure does. I need to know if you are genuinely up for killing her. It would be rather inconvenient for me if you change you mind half way though due to some stupid buried feelings. If we are going to win there can be no hesitation at any point."

Buttercup glared at him. "Alright, maybe I do feel guilt," she said. "We abandoned her in space to do what we thought was right, and never found her again. Maybe it was the years of loneliness which changed her, or maybe the training in that army she's now a member of. I did love my sister and I still do, so I won't let her be this monster. She's going to die, and by my hand..."

"Good," replied Butch snidely, "I knew I could rely on you."

"Hang on!" She turned to Butch angrily. "That's why you didn't want Bubbles to come along. You thought she might show mercy?"

Butch turned to look straight ahead. "Same reason as Boomer. They both talk tough, but are both liable to hesitate at times. Weaklings." Buttercup said nothing more.

* * *

Blossom looked down at the scurrying people on the streets bellow. From far above, they looked like ants, and they were just as oblivious to there fate. "Ha," the pink Puff laughed. "I do enjoy the calm before the storm."

There was some wriggling from under her arm. Blossom glanced down to see that Brick was defrosting, faster then she'd previously hoped. "Darn it," she muttered, before drifting down towards a near by skyscraper, and smashing the kid against it to knock off the rest of the ice. Brick – still firmly in Blossom's grip – shook his head violently.

"Ow Ow Ow!" he screamed.

"Wakey wakey," Blossom declared happily. "Have a nice nap?"

Brick looked up at her angrily. "Let me go!" he cried, trying to force himself out of his grip.

"Now – Brick is it? – don't be a fool. As a Red Ruff you have a proud tradition to live up to. My tradition in fact. So its time to show maturity beyond your years and understand that the only way your life is going to extend beyond today is if you do exactly as I say, alright?"

Brick looked at Blossom intently, and then spat on her face. Blossom let the spit dribble down the side of her face for a moment while she considered her next move.

"I think perhaps, you need a little more time to think about this," she said slowly, as she pulled a strand of her long hair from her head. "For now, I need to secure you for a bit." With a flash of her hands, she tired Brick up with her hair, which the ruff found to his horror he couldn't escape. "Is that tight enough!" Blossom laughed.

"You'll never get away with this!" Brick cried. "My sisters will come and beat you up, I know they will."

"Please," Blossom replied, as she used her X-ray vision to scan the streets below. "_Our_ sisters will fall into line behind me, and you will too." Suddenly, she spotted what she was looking for, and thundered down towards a clothes shop. Smashing though the windows, sending shoppers reeling, she landed in the centre of the store. "For now," she finished, grabbing an appropriate item off a self, "put a sock in it!"

As Blossom rammed the sock as deep as she could into Brick's mouth, causing him to wretch, the shoppers stared fearfully at her. Suddenly, they were pushed back out the way, and Blossom looked around to see that she had been surrounded by police officers, all focusing their guns on her. "Hands up Freak," one of them ordered. "You are under arrest of using super-powers in this city!"

Blossom looked at them, and then relaxed her face into as unthreatening an expression as she could manage. Slowly, she placed Brick down between her feet, and raised her hands into the air. "Okay, it's a fair cop," she replied. "I'll come quietly."

The police officer relaxed, slightly, and took a step forward towards her, withdrawing his handcuffs, when he noticed a pink glow starting to emanate from Blossom's raised hands. "Hey, stop that!" he ordered.

This time Blossom ignored him, just closing her eyes as the glow got brighter. The police office raised his gun rapidly up towards her, but before he could fire, a bolt of energy jumped from her hands engulfed him, leaving nothing but a black scorch mark on the floor where the officer had once stood.

People began screaming and running for there lives, while the remaining offices opened fire desperately. However, Blossom's energy vaporised the bullets before they even reached her, as the glow grew brighter and bigger with ever passing second. More bolts of energy leapt off it, smashing through the walls and roof the building with ease. Soon, even the police had to run, but it was far too late.

Inside her own energy field, Blossom wasn't even breaking a sweat. Excitement bubbled up inside her, with the knowledge that soon her revenge would have truly begun. "Time to die, Cityville," she chuckled to herself, and a moment later, she released her energy.

Also safe within the field, but not so delighted, Brick watched the destruction, eyes wild with terror.

* * *

"Cityville, straight ahead," Buttercup declared. "We should land soon and approach on foot, so that she doesn't see us coming."

"No point," Butch replied. "She had some sort of computer device that allows her to read power levels. She probably already knows we're coming."

"What, that thing on her ear?" Buttercup remembered. "You could have told me earlier!"

"Why," Butch laughed. "Afraid to take her head on?"

Before Buttercup could reply, the city in front of them exploded, in a wave of Pink light. The force of the blast was great enough to blow Butch and Buttercup backwards, even though they were still some miles away. The two of them watched in horror, as the dust settled.

"Holy shit…" Butch whispered. "There's nothing left! It's as if a meteor just landed here!"

Buttercup tried not to think about the people killed. "Still confident," she asked hoarsely.

"Too late to go back now," Butch replied, but for the first time in his life, he sounded scared, and Buttercup couldn't blame him.


	5. One armed Bandit

**5.**** One Armed Bandit**

Initially, after he'd had the situation explained to him by Bubbles, the Professor had been too shocked to do anything more then agree to help. Now as the two of them approached Mojo's, he was beginning to find his tongue.

"Are you sure we can't try to negotiate with her," he asked again. Bubbles shook her head once more.

"You didn't see her," she said, "She seems to have gone completely mad while she's been in space." The Professor sighed. Bubbles supposed he was feeling guilty. "We can't let our feelings distract us from our duty," she tried to remind him.

"Maybe," the Professor replied, "but I'm not going to build anything that will kill her, okay?"

"Sure, we're not trying to kill her," Bubbles confirmed, although she mentally excluded Buttercup from the "we."

Presently they arrived at the volcano, where Boomer was having a problem of a completely different kind with Mojo.

"But if you don't help us everyone on the planet is going to be killed, including us!" the Blue Ruff protested in vain. Mojo shot him a vile look.

"No, I do not work with Puffs – unless I can twist it into an opportunity to destroy them that is."

"But you would get to destroy a puff," Boomer reminded him as Bubbles and the Professor slipped in through the open front door, "just not one of the ones that often foil you…"

"No!" Mojo bellowed more firmly. "I will not help. Absolutely not. There is nothing you can say or do, or that can be said or done to make me help, assist or contribute to your plan in any way, shape or form!" Mojo finished by swing his hands dramatically into the air, as behind him, through the window, the sky went pink.

"What's that?" asked the Professor, confused, as Mojo turned round to see what he was pointing at. "It's too early for a sun set." Then the force of the explosion hit, smashing windows and setting of car alarms as the shockwaves thundered across the town.

"That's Blossom," replied Bubbles sadly. The others stood in silence for a moment as they computed the ramifications. Eventually Mojo made a decision.

"This way," he said (for once) simply, and he led them to his lab.

* * *

Blossom studied the scorched ground around her. The city and all the unsightly concrete and tarmac that it had been made from was gone, leaving just empty space. There were no more humans either, which gave Blossom a good reason to grin widely. "Good," she said calmly. "Disgusting rodents."

She breathed in the newly fresh air, enjoying a rare pollution-free breath. Then she swept an arm down, and lifted the shell shocked Brick into the air. Slowly rotating him in her hands, she allowed him so see all the destruction she'd cause. "When you're a little older," she said calmly, "I'll teach you how to do this yourself. Would you like that?" Brick shook his head rapidly. Blossom sighed.

"Kids, they're all the same," she muttered, "you really don't know what's good for you do you. Eating vegetables, doing exactly as I say and agreeing with my every word, early bed times; its all for your own good you know."

Bricks reply was muffled by the sock in his mouth, which was probably a good thing. Blossom laughed; in his restrained state, he looked quite comic.

"I know, everyone finds the first time they see death hard, even me. But I shall persevere, although you can consider your self lucky. If it wasn't for the current lack of stability in universal politics, I wouldn't need an ally." She tucked him under her arm again. "So if you are going to be my apprentice, I think you need a bit more conditioning in the art of death. So rather then blowing the next city up, I'll destroy it slightly slower, so you can have a good long look…"

Brick's eyes where wide with fear again, but just as Blossom lifted off, her scouter beeped rapidly. The pink puff swung round to see two green streaks surging towards her. "No," she muttered. "Surely they aren't that stupid!"

Butch and Buttercup thumped on to the ground a couple of yards away from her, both instantly adopting aggressive positions in anticipation of the fight ahead. "Alright Blossom!" Buttercup declared. "You've really done it now!"

Blossom didn't bother to adjust her stance; she just looked at them slightly quizzically. "I take it then that you haven't come to tell me of the successful destruction of Townsville then," she said blankly. "Or is Bubbles just mopping up the survivors?"

"No," replied Buttercup, "not even close."

"We're here to shut that oversized mouth of yours for good!" Butch added, as he clenched his fist.

Blossom was not impressed, but she at least showed (of feigned) some sympathy. "This is a shame Buttercup," she said slowly, shaking her head. "We do appear to have got off on the wrong foot. But, since I am feeling particularly generous, I shall give you one last chance. Look around you my sister, at what used to be a City? Are you not impressed by this power, not satisfied by the deaths of scores of the pathetic creatures that destroy and corrupt this otherwise beautiful world? Don't you want all this for yourself."

"I do," muttered Butch, "but I would keep the humans as salves, rather then killing them."

"You're not helping," Buttercup spat.

Blossom smiled, a vicious smile. "I can see it in your eyes sis, the light of battle. You love fighting, you love victory, and if you give it a chance, I'm sure you'll enjoy killing. Become my assistant, and soon you'll be having the time of your life!"

"Never!" Buttercup answered. "Just because its fun, doesn't mean its right! Besides I have everything I want right here, on Earth."

"Fine," Blossom sighed. "You can bring your boy friend if you want."

Butch and Buttercup remained remarkably calm at this statement. "You've got that one wrong," Butch replied menacingly. "This is just a temporary alliance. Once I'm finished, she'll be as dead as you!"

Buttercup laughed, slightly impressed with his spirit. "See Blossom," she said, turning to face her sister. "Us green's bow to no one. Now give me back Brick!"

"No," Blossom said calmly, "It appears we go nicely in colour sets. Maybe I'll have better luck with the Blues too, once you two are dead of course." She leant down, and rolled the tied up Brick into a creator a short distance away. "He'll be safe there for now," she said, before starting to limber up. "Now, as you two are so week that you have no chance of victory, I'll give you a minute to come up with a plan while I do a few stretches. Wouldn't want to pull a muscle you know."

"What an arrogant cow!" Butch muttered. "She defiantly is your sister."

"Thanks," Buttercup replied sarcastically.

"And another thing," Butch continued, as he carefully removed his jumper. "If she's been away from earth for so long, how come she speaks such good English?"

Buttercup was going to reply, when Butch dropped the jumper to the floor, making a terrible crash. Buttercup lent down to pick it up again."

"Good grief!" she said startled. "This weighs a ton!"

"Yeah," said Butch smugly, as he rotated his arms to get some heat into them. "It's a training technique. Wearing heavy clothes is a great way of building up muscle all day. Impressed?"

"Partially," admitted Buttercup grudgingly, as she pulled at her shoes. "I thought that was my idea." She quickly dispatched of her footwear, wrist bands, jewellery and belt (since her trousers were elasticised) dropping them all to the ground with enough clunks to get Blossom's attention again. "That's about the same total weight as you jumper," the Green Puff added, jumping up and down athletically. "Yes, that's much better."

Blossom turned to face them, twisting her lip slightly. "I'm impressed," she said eventually. "You're not going to be as much of a bunch of losers as I thought." She turned her back on them. "Right, attack when your ready!" she commanded.

Butch was indignant! "Don't turn your back! Who do you think we are?"

"Calm down Butch!" Buttercup interrupted. "If she's going to be a fool then let's use it to our advantage."

The two of them dashed either side of Blossom, swinging a punch in each at her head. Blossom didn't seem to move at any stage, but suddenly, before she'd been hit, she was gone. Butch and Buttercup barely registered this before she elbowed them both in the back of the head, sending the two Greens tumbling away.

They stopped quickly, and swung round with looks of horror on their faces. "How can she be that fast," Buttercup thought, "I never even saw her move!"

"Boy that hurt," Butch thought, "she's stronger then I even thought possible, and I don't think she was even trying!"

Blossom laughed, as she looked at the two of them knelt on the floor. "Kneel to no one ahey?" she asked. The two Greens immediately jumped to their feet. Blossom nodded. "I'm glad you two know how to take a punch, because I could do with a good warm up." She chuckled again. "And once I'm warmed up, your brains won't even be able to comprehend what I can do…"

* * *

Bubbles and Boomer had been waiting patiently in Mojo's lounge. The silence between them was deafening; both were worried about there sibling, but neither trusted the other enough to talk about it. Occasionally one or the other would glance out the window in the direction of Cityville, or where Cityville had been, in the vain hope that they might see a returning Green streak.

Presently the Professor and Mojo emerged from the lab, looking glum (something that wasn't hard for Mojo.) Bubbles and Boomer jumped to their feet.

"Well?" said Bubbles hopefully.

Mojo opened his mouth to answer, but Boomer cut across him. "Not you!" he bellowed. "Time is a factor here."

The Professor nodded. "Well we've thrashed out a few calculations, and it's clear that we can't beat her with one shot. So any sort of anti-puff gun is not going to cut it."

"Fantastic," muttered Boomer. "Now what?"

Bubbles thought for a moment. "Can we beat her a more conventional way? Surely Mojo, you have some sort Robot in the pipe line that can could fight her?"

"No, no I do not," Mojo replied incredulously. "Do you understand how long it takes to build such a robot? No you do not, because you have never attempted to do so, but I Mojo Jojo am very experience since I have attempted to build such a robot many times, and thus know that it takes a very long time, unlike you, who assumes that it takes a very short time to build said robot, because you…"

"Alright, Alright!" Bubbles interrupted. "I was only asking!"

"Then now what?" asked Boomer, worriedly.

Suddenly, Mojo's face lit up. "I have a plan…" he began before going on for quite some time.

* * *

Buttercup and Butch where throwing everything they had at Blossom, swinging at her in a form of organised chaos as they darted round her. However, which ever part of her body they were aiming at, she had always moved by the time their attacks had arrived. That was until she got bored, when she decided to effortlessly catch the two fists racing towards her.

Butch and Buttercup were either side of her at the time, and Blossom allowed them long enough to register that she had trap them, and to try to struggle free, before jumping up and kicking them both under the chin. She neglected to let go of their hands though, and while they were temporarily stunned, she yanked them back towards each other, causing a clash of heads.

"Had enough?" she asked sweetly. The two Greens stay motionless for a while, as if beaten, before suddenly both swinging a kick at Blossom abdomen. To their utter horror, this had no effect at all.

"Holy shit!" Butch exclaimed.

"Dam it," thought Buttercup, "it doesn't even seem possible to hurt her."

Blossom released them and took a few steps back, to allow them to find there feet. "I must say, what you two lack in strength you make up for in toughness, most opponents would be down by now. But I prefer it this way; it means we can play a little game. The rules are quite simple, you two try and attack me, and the winner is the last one of you to beg for your life!"

"Over my dead body!" Buttercup screamed at her sister. "I'd never beg!"

"Yes, everyone says that at this point," Blossom reflected. "But you'll see…"

Buttercup gritted her teeth, and she and Butch charged once more. This time Blossom didn't let them reach her, she leapt high into the air instead. Landing briefly where she'd stood, Butch and Buttercup fired themselves up after her.

"Come on!" Butch grunted through gritted teeth. "We can get her this time, she's not ready!"

"Right, she's go her arms folded!" Buttercup confirmed.

"Blast, then thump!" Butch added, his green energy build slowly around his hands.

Blossom did indeed have her arms folded across her chest. But she didn't look worried. Waiting until they were two close to avoid it, her eyes suddenly started glowing pink.

Buttercup spotted it moments before her sister unleashed her eye-blast, and managed to scramble out the way with only the loss of her top's sleeve, which was flayed off by the edge of the blast. Butch however wasn't quiet so alert.

The three of them landed moments latter, Blossom ago ten yards away, looking very smug. Buttercup turned to Butch. "That was close! What on earth are we going to… Shit! Your arm!"

Butch was fully aware of this problem. Caught in the blast, his entire left arm had been seared clean off. The was little blood as the heat had mostly sealed it, but that wasn't much consolation. "Just be glad it wasn't my body," he growled, clearly in a great deal of pain.

Blossom laugh aloud. "Oh dear, have you lost your arm! If you want a quick break I can recommend a great second hand shop!"

Butch ignored the terrible joke. "If you have any secret technique that you've been saving Buttercup," he said, "now's the time."

"Sorry," replied Buttercup. "Wish I did, but no."

"You slacker," Butch laughed, gripping his injured arm hard with his other one to dull the pain. "Fortunately I have developed a new one."

"You have?"

"Well technically it's Boomer's. It's an energy attack you see, the one he was planning to use to finish Bubbles. I don't mind telling you, it's a bit of an overkill, as you'd expect from him. The attack is powerful enough to kill Bubbles ten times over."

"So you mean it might take Blossom?" Buttercup asked. Butch nodded. "And you can replicate it, even with just one arm?"

"Sure, that's no problem. The problem is it's going to take me some time to charge it up. You're going to need to survive against her on your own for five minutes."

"Five minutes!"

"And she's probably quick enough to doge it if she sees it coming, so when I fire you'll need to have her full attention."

"What are you whispering about?" Blossom called over to them. "I can't afford to stand around all day, I have a genocide to commit you know."

"Five minutes," Buttercup muttered, ripping off her remaining sleeve. "Sure, why not! How hard can it be?" Butch grimaced, but as he raised his remaining hand, put his two fore fingers on his forehead and started to focus his energy, Buttercup turn to her sister once more.

"All right Blossom!" she bellowed. "Get ready, because here I come!"


	6. Buttercup's Bravery

Thanks for all the Reviews.

**6.****Buttercup's Bravery**

Buttercup surged away from Butch towards Blossom, pounding her feet against ground as hard as she could. There was no plan of attack in her mind just yet, but she was sure something would occur to her shortly.

She was stopped short however, because Blossom flattened the palm of her hand and trust is forward so hard that the force of the air she moved was enough to stop Buttercup dead (as well as taking some chucks out of the ground.) Fortunately Buttercup was able to keep her footing, but she was rather put off by this.

"For heavens sake Blossom," she snapped. "If you that much more powerful then us why don't you just kill me."

For once Blossom didn't smile, but she spoke with her smiling tone. "Because that wouldn't be as fun," she said.

"Ha," Buttercup laughed. "I reckon your bluffing. You have a few powerful tricks I'll admit, but given your ruthlessness, I wager I'd be dead by now if you were truly capable of it." Buttercup wasn't of course this delusional, but she was keen to play for time.

"Don't tempt me," Blossom said harshly.

"Then why did you play such a defensive move just now to stop me attacking you?" Buttercup asked.

"Simple," Blossom replied. "I want to know what you two where talking about just now?" She was staring beyond her sister at Butch, who was trying his best to ignore her and build up his energy.

Buttercup remembered the scouter, so walked slowly round Blossom, to get her facing away from Butch. This way the machine wouldn't pick up Butch's energy gain. "Oh," she said nonchalantly, "we were just… reminiscing."

"Really?" inquired Blossom, not sounding convinced.

"Sure," Buttercup replied thinking as quickly as she could. "About the World Marital Arts competition. I'm the reigning champion you know."

"You mean you're the strongest person on this planet?" Blossom replied. "Do you expect me to be proud or something?"

Buttercup sneered. "You should be, because I reckon that if you fought me to the tournament rules, you wouldn't stand a chance!"

"Is one of these rules that the weakest person must win perchance?" Blossom mocked. She relaxed her stance a bit when Buttercup didn't reply. "All right sis, if you're so confident, I'd be glad to dash your hopes."

"Perfect," thought Buttercup. With Blossom watching, she flew a few metres into the air and using a small energy beam from her index finger, she carved a twenty foot by twenty foot square in the ground around Blossom, before landing again. "Okay, rules. You're only allowed to touch the ground in side the ring – which I've marked – but flying is allowed. You lose if you go out the ring or submit, or get knocked out. Oh yes, your not allowed to kill your opponent."

"So I defeat you, and then kill you," Blossom mused. "This shouldn't take long…"

"Oh yes," Buttercup lied, thinking quickly. "It's considered unsporting to win within five minutes. More entertaining for the crowd you see."

"Five minutes?" Blossom thought for a moment. "Very well, let it not be said that I am a bad sport." She carefully placed her hands behind her back. "If I only use my feet, then we might just about make that!"

"We'll see," Buttercup replied. She shifted her stance slightly. "On the count of three… One, two, three!" She launched her self forward, putting a foot down just in front of Blossom, and propelling her self around her sister, thus avoiding Blossoms counter kick and getting an opening to at last land a punch. Blossoms speed meant that it was only a glancing blow, but if was still contact.

As she cart wheeled away to the edge to the arena, Buttercup noticed that Blossom was smiling, as she gently rubbed the check that Buttercup's swing had caught. "Good," the pink puff muttered. "I see your not completely talent free."

Buttercup didn't replied, she just took a quick breath before throwing herself at Blossom once more, ducking and diving like a fight pilot trying to lose a tail, as she weaved around her opponent, desperately trying to catch her out. Blossom, with her arms folded behind her back, wafted between her strikes as if she was dodging a beach ball.

She was so relaxed that it was almost cocky, Butch thought, as he slowly focused his power. That was a good thing, he thought, she might not be expecting his blast to be able to hurt her.

Eventually, Blossom tired of dodging and ducking under Buttercups latest swing, she landed a sharp kick right where Buttercup's nose should be. The green puff took the blow well this time, back flipping away to dissipate some of the energy of the blow, before propelling her self into the air with a bounce on her hands. Righting her self, she stuck both arms out in front of her, and opened up her palms.

"Here Blossom!" she roared, "Catch!" With a brief green flash, a cascade of small energy balls cannoned down towards Blossom.

They were too weak to bother her though; Blossom just kicked herself a foot into the air so she could deal with these blasts with a quick couple of slashes from her mighty legs. Buttercup's plan had never been for the blast to hurt her. While her sister was distracted, Buttercup had darted in behind and swung a mighty kick directly at the back of Blossoms head. Blossom saw it coming extremely late, but just about managed to grab Buttercup around the ankle, and swing her sister over her shoulder, smashing her into the ground, hard enough to create a creator a few inches deep.

Exhausted and bruised, Buttercup stared up at Blossom, laughing slightly. Blossom frowned. "What's so funny?" she asked.

Buttercup giggled. "You had to use your hands," she laughed.

Blossom did not find this funny, and stamped hard on Buttercup's stomach to emphasise the point. Buttercup had never felt pain like it, as the contents of her stomach and a good amount of blood flopped out of her mouth in reaction.

"Now let me see," Blossom sneered. "Its unsporting to win in five minutes, so that gives me two minutes and twenty seconds to make you suffer!" She stamped down on Buttercup again, before crushing down on her chest. Buttercup screamed in agony, as concerning popping noises emanated from her body. Her cries of pain echoed off the ruined scenery, joined by Blossom's cackling laughter.

Butch watched on horrified, mainly by the thought that this could be him soon. Blossom turned to him suddenly, smiling sweetly.

"Feel free to step in any time you like," she said in a tone to match her smile, before laughing maliciously once more, as she crushed Buttercup again. Butch tried to concentrate as he increased his power further. He still needed more time, but if Blossom was occupied in the act of killing her sister, there was an outside chance she might not notice his blast until it was too late.

That chance seemed to have vanished moments latter, when a beep from her scouter suddenly stopped Blossom's laugher. "Power level of six thousand…" she whispered suddenly, "where's that coming from?" She released pressure from Buttercup, who finally was able to take in some breath, as she looked around, suddenly concerned. Butch's heart almost stopped when, for a moment, she was staring straight at him. "No," he muttered, "it's not ready yet, I need more time!" he bit his own tongue through fear and as a method for suppressing the pain from his missing arm. Too his relief however, Blossom kept scanning, looking for the power that she couldn't see.

That changed very quickly. From a near by creator, there was a burst of red energy. Blossom swung round to see Brick cannon out of the creator, as the remains of his bonds floated through the air. The young Ruff's eyes were glowing red, and energy was sparking off him. He landed seven metres short of Blossom, growling angrily.

"What the…" Blossom gasped, as Butch gaped in amazement, but she was interrupted by Brick.

"Leave my sister alone!!" he bellowed, tears of anger running down his cheeks, before he cannoned himself head first towards the stunned Blossom. He head butted her right under the ribs, momentarily knocking the stuffing out of the pink puff.

As Brick rolled away, Blossom gasped for breath as she staggered around for a moment. "Where… where did that power come from…" she staggered round to look at her attacker, "and where did it go!" she stuttered, as her scouter showed to her amazement that Brick's power level was back down at about eighty.

She wouldn't get answer though, because Buttercup took her chance. Ignoring her battered body, with one last push she leapt forward and grabbed Blossom from behind, wrapping her arms and her legs around Blossom's. "Got you!" she bellowed in her ear, before tightening her grip.

Blossom tried to escape, but still winded from Brick's charge, she wasn't able to. "Okay, you've got me," she hissed, as she tried to get her breath back, "but its not as if you can do anything!"

"Really?" Buttercup sniggered. "Come on Butch," she called, "do it now!"

It was only now that Blossom notice the sparks of energy leaping from the two fingers' on Butch's forehead. The scouter picked it up too. "Twelve Thousand!" Blossom gasped. "I can't believe it! How could I be that careless?"

Butch smiled a toothy grin. "Just keep her there as long as possible," he sneered lowering his fingers slightly, "and this'll skewer her like a kebab."

Buttercup groaned in pain. "I can't get out of this Butch!" she wailed, my ribs are broken. Guess we're both going Blossom."

"What!" Blossom gasped as she desperately tried to wriggle free. "Your going to commit suicide just to beat me!"

"Call it a necessary sacrifice," Buttercup laughed.

"Your mad!" Blossom bellowed, "letting yourself die for the worthless rodents on this planet!"

"Maybe," Buttercup gripped tighter, as Blossom nearly got away, "but I'd rather die for a better reason then your entertainment!"

"But sis," Blossom protested, "I wouldn't have killed you…"

"Oh pull the other one, its got bells on it!"

Brick had got back to his feet again at last, rubbing is head. Then he saw what was going on. "Buttercup," he cried "what's happening?"

Buttercup gritted her teeth as she looked over to him. "Stand back Brick!" she bellowed, "the worlds going to need you after this kid!"

"What do you mean…" Brick gasped, fearing the worst, but he was interrupted by Butch's laughter.

"Nobel sacrifice," he roared with joy, "how very like you Buttercup. I suggest you hold on tight now, because here it comes!" He raised his arm up before swinging his hand out in front of him. With a mighty roar, the energy he'd been building up spiralled out of the end of his fingers in a narrow beam. As it corkscrewed towards the two puffs however, Blossom finally found some strength again. She rammed her elbow hard into Buttercup's side and then made a desperate scrabble for freedom.

With a flash of green energy, the beam ripped through the melee and surged off into the distance before eventually curving into the ground one hundred metres away, with a large bang. This was irrelevant though, as all the focus was on the screen that was emerging before Butch and Brick.

Buttercup had fallen to the floor, a massive and surely fatal hole straight through her chest. Blossom though, had just about done enough. Her armour had been pierced on the right side of her lower body, and she had lost a layer of skin, that was now bleeding heavily. She was in pain, but she was still standing.

* * *

Bubbles jumped when Boomer suddenly jumped to his feet, shaking violently. The two of them had been watching in silence as Mojo and the Professor beavered away, but now the ruff had picked something up.

"She's gone!" he wailed. Bubbles looked up hopefully.

"Who, Blossom?" she asked.

Boomer stared at her, fear etched on his face. "No, Buttercup. There's no energy signal from her!"

"What! No!" Bubbles screamed, but Boomer was already charging for the door. "Wait, where are you going?"

"To fight!" Boomer snapped. "If I don't do something soon, Butch will be dead too!" He shot off at full speed.

Bubbles hesitated for a moment. Buttercup couldn't be dead. It just wasn't like her. A pit of fear and depression welled up in her stomach. She had to know. Bubbles charged off to the door but was halted by the Professor's call.

"Wait Bubbles, we need you!" he called. Bubbles swung round, now with tears in her eyes.

"But Buttercup…" she began.

The Professor was welling up slightly too, but he managed to control his words. "I know," he replied, "but we need you. This device we're building needs someone to use it, which now Boomer's gone has to be you. Besides you won't be helping Buttercup if you charge off an die too."

"I… I suppose so," Bubbles sniffed.

"Besides," added Mojo, "she may not be deceased at this moment in time, as in dead or departed. For remember that the two rowdyruffs, as in Butch and Boomer, where apparently dead, as in departed or deceased, on the day, that is within one rotation of the planet Earth that we measure to be twenty four hours long, that I created them, but then they returned latter, thus proving to not be dead or departed, but to be alive all along."

Bubbles and the Professor looked at him. "I don't think Him would want Buttercup back," Bubbles muttered.

"Fine, give up all hope," Mojo muttered, returning to his work, "see if I care."

* * *

As the exhausted Butch looked on in horror, Brick sprinted over to his sister. "Buttercup," he bawled, "please be okay! Speak to me!"

Buttercup gasped for breath, but it was a struggle. "Sorry Brick, I'm a goner. You're going to have to fight for me…"

"But… but I can't!" Brick cried, "I don't know how."

Buttercup grinned. "I know you can. You have enough power, we saw it!"

"What power?" Brick panicked.

Darn, thought Buttercup, he doesn't remember. Still, it was too late for her to remind him now. "Go join Butch…" she gasped for breath again as the light started to fade in her eyes. "He's in charge now. Go!"

Brick staggered away, sniffling awfully. Blossom, clutching her side, let him go, as she walked over to Buttercup herself. "It was a good effort my sister," she said calmly. "Your death may be futile, but it was at least noble."

Buttercup wheezed out a laugh. "I knew it," she gasped. "You're not totally gone Blossom. Your heart is in there some where, I know it. You can't honestly tell me you enjoy all this killing."

Blossom smiled gently. "You'd be surprised how much of an effect years of loneliness will do to you," she sneered, "with nothing to keep you company but the images of those who abandoned you. Good bye Buttercup."

"We'll see," Buttercup whispered but then she was gone.

Blossom took a step back, her head bowed. Butch (trying to ignore Brick hanging on to his leg) wondered if Buttercup was right, the pink Puff almost seemed sad. If this was the case however, she covered it up well, swinging her head back towards them with a self satisfied grin.

"Right," she declared, "who's next?"


	7. Villains for the Earth

Sorry for the delay, I had a mental block.**  
**

**7. Villians for the Earth  
**

Butch had never thought that the day he killed Buttercup would feel like this. Mainly because he had expected the moment to be followed by the impending conquest of the world, rather then his impending death. No, he wasn't going to except this. If he could just, somehow, stop Blossom and save the world, then it would be his. Now was not a time to give up.

Annoyingly, Brick was still hanging on to his leg. He shook his it angrily, to try and make him let go. "No time for that kid!" he snapped. "We have work to do."

"But…" Brick was still crying. "Buttercup…"

After a cursory glance at Blossom to check she wasn't about to attack, Butch swung an arm downwards and lifted Brick up by the scruff of his neck until he was level with his face. "Stop crying right now and listen to me! Your sister has not died in vain, yet. Blossom is hurt, if not down. Puff's heal very quickly, but if we're fast, we can get her before she recovers. However, since I only have one arm, I need your help."

"But I'm not strong enough," protested Brick. "Not to fight her."

Butch snarled. "Where's your pride! She's just a girl, when all's said and done! You've already showed enough power to hurt her. If you let the anger inside you from your sister's death motivate you, I know you can get her!"

The mention of his departed sibling set the tears of in Brick's eyes again. "I miss her…" he sniffed.

Butch gritted his teeth. He searched his mind for a lever he could use on Brick. "I was dead once," he said.

"Pardon?" Brick was amazed.

"Sure," said Butch, more cheerfully then he felt. "You sisters have killed me and Boomer once before, but I'm here now and alive, right?"

"You mean…" Brick thought for a moment, "that Buttercup might be able to come back?"

"Yes, no problem," Butch lied. "But only if we can kill Blossom first." This of course wasn't true, but Butch didn't care. In the event that they did both survive this encounter, Butch would need to kill Brick anyway on his way to world domination, so it did not really matter.

His object had been to motivate the little red ruff, and it had defiantly worked. Brick wiped the tears away from his eyes, and swallowed his grief. "Alright then," he said determinedly. "I'm ready to die if necessary."

Foolish hero, thought Butch, but his attention was drawn away by Blossom.

"You really are a hopeless optimist aren't you Butch," she laughed. "First you think you can beat me and then bring that idiot Buttercup back? By collecting seven magic balls and wishing for it, I assume!" She bit her lip, as she put on a stupidly large smile. "I'm going to enjoy killing you. Quite why the kid wants to throw his hat into your ring is beyond me…"

"He's not a murderer!" Brick bellowed. "That's why!"

"Really, who killed our sister kid?" mocked Blossom. Butch gritted his teeth, but before he could respond, he spotted something – or someone – on the horizon. Blossom noticed his eye line, and glanced over to where he was looking too, as did Brick eventually.

Princess Morbucks, wearing one of her golden battle suits, landed aggressively behind Butch and Brick. Ignoring them initially, she glanced around at the devastation, before turning to Butch.

"Oi, punk!" she bellowed. "Where the Hell's Cityville gone… and what happened to your arm!"

Butch smiled. "Thank you Princess," he grinned, "thank you for introducing me to a totally new experience."

Princess looked confused. "What experience?"

"Being pleased to see you," Butch finished. Brick laughed allowed at this, but Princess just scowled. She couldn't take her eyes off Butch's missing arm.

"Just answer the question freak," she said firmly.

Butch let the insult go. "She destroyed them," he replied, pointing over to Blossom. Princess looked over to her.

"Is that a puff?" she asked.

"Yes," Brick interrupted, "but she's pure evil, and unbeatably strong…"

"Maybe for you," Princess laughed. "But my new battle suit can destroy any of those pathetic Powerpuffs… Where are they anyway," she asked. "If this… thing…"

"Blossom," Blossom filled in. She seemed to be finding this entertaining.

"…this Blossom is trying to destroy the planet, shouldn't they be trying to stop her?"

"Bubbles is planning something," Butch explained, "and Buttercups over there," he finished, gesturing to the puff's body. Princess swallowed nervously, but she stood her ground.

"I see," she muttered. Then she spoke up. "I don't know what kind of Powerpuff you are Blossom," she called over, "but you're still just a freak, and I'm not going to let you destroy this planet, my Dad needs it for profit!"

Blossom nodded. "I see," she said gravely. "I wish I had time to test that theory, but sadly all this chit chat has put me a long way behind schedule, so if you don't mind, I think I'll just blow the three of you up." She raised one hand into the air, as Brick and Butch braced for impact. (Princess, arrogant as ever, was unmoved.) "You should recognise this move Butch, it was the one I was going to show to you and your idiot brother when we first met. Watch the…"

"Who's an idiot!" roared Boomer, as he burst from no where at high speed and kicked a surprised Blossom hard enough in the side of the head to knock her off her feet. Blossom turned the resulting flight into a well controlled cartwheel, stopping a few feet away from Boomer. She recomposed herself.

"Thanks for proving my point," she said calmly. "I gave you the chance to run away, and instead you choose to die. In my book, that makes you an idiot."

Boomer grinned widely, putting his arm up into the air with a flat palm, as if he was holding a pizza plate. "We'll see," he laughed. There was a blue burst of energy, and a large, flat energy disk was generated above his palm, with a size of about a metre across. "If you're so powerful, try and block this!" He spun it towards her like a Frisbee, sailing through the air as he did. To his delight Blossom didn't move, initially.

The pink puff was clutching her injured side. That glancing blow from Butch had hurt a lot more then she had let on, no wonder Buttercup was dead. Still, her opponents seemed to have got over Buttercup's death depressingly quickly, and now their tails were up. If she could deflect this blast, it would surely knock them back again. It was just that she was sure she'd seen this once before…

At the last minute she remembered where. Flicking her head out the way at the last moment, the disc just glanced her check, before careering into the ground behind her. Rather then exploding on contact, it just sliced straight through the earth, leaving a thin, yet deep scar.

There was also now a new scar on Blossom's check. Suddenly she looked worried. If she hadn't moved, it would have cut her in two.

Boomer however, was still deflated. "Dam it," he muttered, "so close…"

Butch laughed. "Great effort Boomer," he bellowed. "Get over here now."

Boomer obliged, but he wasn't happy. "Don't congratulate me," he snapped. "That was our one chance…"

"Rubbish," replied Butch. "We've all managed to cause her problems now," he said, referring to himself and Brick. "We can win! And she knows it!"

"For once I agree with you Butch," added Princess, "I mean if you three weaklings can hurt her, then I should find this a breeze!"

"I don't care if she's on our side," Brick muttered to Butch, "she's still a jerk."

"Don't worry kid," Butch laughed, "we'll use her for now, and then we'll deal with her latter." Then he realised what he'd said. Dam it Butch, he thought, the child's not part of "we."

Blossom did not look impressed. "On the contrary fools," she spat, "I see no reason to fight you any more. None of you are worth my time. But do not fear, you shall still die." She reached into her pocket, and withdrew a small glass vile. Kicking a small hole in the ground, she opened the vile, and poured four small seeds out into the hole, before covering them in dirt.

"What's she doing?" Boomer asked.

"Isn't it obvious," Princess laughed. "She's planting some flowers for her own grave!"

Blossom looked up, straight at the lot of them. She was smiling crookedly. Then, she took a step back, and four stunted, hunched creatures, burst out the ground from where she'd planted her seeds. They were bald and green skinned, with over sized fore heads, beaked mouths filled with sharp teeth, large, red eyes and two fingered, clawed hands and feet.

"Like my Saibamen?" Blossom asked smugly. "Sure, they are no where near as strong as me – the soil might be a bit poor around here. Still, with one each, they should be able to deal with you four."

Princess looked unimpressed, but Brick had jumped to safety behind Butch's leg again. Boomer looked worried. "She seems confident," he muttered.

"Rubbish," Butch replied, as Blossom wondered over to a rock to sit on. "We've got her worried, she knows those freaks are going to loose, but I'll wager she needs a bit of time to recover, and wants to examine our fighting styles."

"She's not going to learn much then," Princess snarled through gritted teeth, "because this will be over in seconds!" She charged off towards one of the Saibamen, leaving the others free to attack the three Ruffs. Butch and Boomer spilt off quickly while Brick, momentarily paralysed by fear, was almost over run by "his" immediately.

Boomer, who had headed skywards, was quickly caught up with by a Saibamen, which swung a bladed claw at him. The blue ruff managed to duck underneath it, and land a sharp punch in the creature's abdomen. The Saibamen was seemingly winded by this, but then being almost a plant-like being, it didn't necessarily need to breath. Hence Boomer took a heavy kick under the chin, as one of the creature's talons grazed dangerously close to his neck.

Ignoring the blood now flowing down his neck, Boomer fired a powerful eye blast at the monster, hitting his target and propelling it down into the ground. Boomer landed a short distance away, firing up a blast that would hopefully be powerful enough to destroy the Saibamen. He was disappointed at the speed at which the creature recovered, and was then amazed as the head of the creature split open. Out from the hole came a splash of green liquid spurted out. Boomer wisely chose to dodge it, allowing the liquid to fall to the floor, where it hissed aggressively, burning a deep hole.

Rather then being disgusted, Boomer was impressed. "That's so cool!" he declared to the disappointed monster. "Shame it was your last strike." He fired his blast straight into the gap in the Saibamen's head, with predictable results.

Meanwhile, Brick was still struggling. Not being used to such and aggressive series of attacks, his movements where not instinctive enough to allow him to counter attack. Or for that matter, to avoid them. Soon enough, the Saibamen was able to knock Brick's feet out from beneath him, causing to land hard on his back. The Saibamen quickly pinned him to the ground with a spiked foot, and swung his clawed hands straight down towards Brick's head. Brick tense up and closed his eyes.

The attack didn't reach him however, because Butch arrived just in time to kick the monster off. He was able to do this because the Saibamen that had been attacking him was currently being griped round the neck by Butch's remaining hand. Ignoring this one temporally, Butch landed on the other Saibamen, and stamped hard on its neck, desperately trying to break it.

He managed, but the Saibamen he'd being ignoring managed to get enough freedom to bite his arm with its toothy beak. Butch roared in pain as blood burst from the wound, but with out a free arm to smash it off with, he resorted to trying to head but the creature. This only gave him a head ache, but fortunately Brick had got back to his feet, charging in with a burst of anger and unlikely power, smashed the body of the creature to pieces with one punch, which was hard enough for the shock waves to wrench Butch's arm.

The Green Ruff staggered around a bit, before regaining his balance and composure, just as Brick was prising the dead Saibamen off his arm. The Green Ruff sneered. "I suppose I can't bawl you out now for nearly loosing," he said.

Brick laughed, in a happy way that bothered Butch slightly. "I guess not," he chuckled.

"But do you understand your power a bit more now?" Butch asked. "Shame your sisters never trained you properly," he continued once Brick had nodded. "I've have to think of a way to use that power with out putting you in a proper fight situation."

"Why?" Brick asked. "Am I more powerful then you?"

Butch grimaced. "Yes," he replied. "Even without training."

"How?"

Butch didn't know. But looking at across at Blossom, a thought was brewing in his head. "If she's a puff," he thought quietly, "Where's 'our' red ruff…" He looked down at Brick again. "Professor Utonium didn't create you," he mused to himself. "I'm sure of that."

His train of thought was interrupted by the frazzled body of the last Saibamen smashed into the ground just in front of him. Above, Princess Moebuck hovered comfortably, her new battle suit unscratched. She was seemingly unbothered.

Boomer landed nearby. "Did you see that!" he enthused. "She pounded it!"

"I didn't," Butch muttered, "But I'm sure Blossom did."

The Pink Ruff stood up, a huge smile on her face seeming to indicate that her confidence had returned. "Soil must be rubbish on this planet," she mused. "I suppose I'll have to clean up here myself.

Dam, thought Butch, she must have healed.

Princess was not concerned. "Okay Puff/Freak/Alien," she bellowed. "It's time. I'm going to barbeque you in double quick time and then serve your body as the main course for my victory parade! Princess Moebuck, saviour of the world – has a nice ring to it."

Blossom looked at her, and then at her scouter. Pausing briefly for thought, she grabbed the computer and took it off, tossing it away. "If you are that confident, then this machine must be faulty," she explained. "But be glad, you've caught my interest. I shall humour you."

Princess unleashed a burst of electric energy. "No, you will die!" she bellowed, before firing a wave of electricity at Blossom. The pink puff leant her head slightly to one side, and the surge whistled past her, before crashing to the ground a short distance behind her. Princess was not greatly phased, just a bit annoyed. She charged in screaming furiously, as she launched a rapid wave of attacks at Blossom.

Just before she reached, Boomer noticed Blossom's expression change, from one of arrogant confidence to one of concentration. Clearly she rated this opponent as a threat. The two of them smashed across the sky, with Princess doing all the attack, Blossom all the defending, and leaving the Ruff's desperately trying to follow the battle with there eyes.

"I think…" Boomer muttered, "I think that she might be winning!"

"Is that a good think?" Brick asked. "I mean Princess does seem kind of evil."

"Nah," Boomer continued confidently. "She just likes the attention. She's unlikely to try and kill us after this… I think."

"Dam it!" Butch bellowed suddenly. Boomer and Brick looked up.

"What?" they asked.

"Don't you see!" Butch grimaced. "Yes she's causing her problems, but the speed's reducing. She must be using all the power in the suit to keep up… and Blossom has plenty in reserve."

The Ruffs stood in silence for a moment, giving Boomer and Brick a chance to observe that Butch was right. "I have a plan," Brick piped up bravely. Boomer and Butch looked at him.

"Really?" Boomer asked doubtfully. However Butch had just clicked. Of course, it was so clear now. From what Blossom had said, she should have been the Puff's leader, so Brick should have been there leader. With him the Puff's would easily have been beaten, and they would rule the world. So why had Mojo got rid of him? To keep him and Boomer under control of course.

Blossom's return had blown him a favourable wind, if only he could live long enough to take advantage of it. Of maybe the key was not to live at all…


	8. Bubbles' Boost

Okay, sorry for the long delay again. Today's excuss is coursework. Enjoy the Chapter.

**8. Bubbles' Boost.**

Bubbles stared out of the window disconsolately, looking disbelievingly in the direction of where Cityville had once stood. Secretly, she'd always hoped that Blossom would return to them and even though they'd never spoken about it she suspected that Buttercup and the Professor had desperately wished for it too. Of course it was natural for her to be… different, but how could it end like this? How could Buttercup, her mighty green eyed sister be dead?

She always seemed to survive anything, be it a direct hit from Mojo's latest laser or getting swallowed by one of the many marauding monsters that attacked the city. Whatever it was, Buttercup had bounced back with her usual vigour and determination. To be honest, Bubbles had believed her sister to be invincible.

She smacked her hand hard against the window sill. She couldn't be dead! Maybe it was a trick; perhaps Boomer had lied about what he'd sensed, so that he and Butch could catch her sister alone and off guard. That was the sort of things those Ruff's might try.

But she remembered the look of fear in Boomer's eyes, fear for his brother's safety. Bubbles didn't think that he was that good an actor. Still, he may have been mistaken. The only way she'd ever know is if she went to see for her self.

"You two done yet!" she hollowed into the lab. It was slightly insensitive of her, she knew, since the Professor was surely grieving too, but she couldn't stand the waiting anymore.

To her surprise the Professor and Mojo emerged. "Yes," the Professor said, "just about." He gestured to his monkey companion, who was holding what appeared to be a seemingly unnecessarily bulky belt.

"Errr, is that it?" Bubbles was more then a little disappointed.

The Professor understood her doubt. "I know it doesn't look much, but inside the belt is some chemical X. The buckle has a flow-rate control device, and by using that carefully you should be able to pump small enough amounts into your body to boost your power without causing you to… err… explode."

Bubbles ignored the bit on the end. "So you mean I might be able to beat Blossom?" she asked.

The Professor winced at the mention of her third daughter, but nodded slowly. "I think so, but we won't know for sure until we try it."

"Now," interrupted Mojo. "Buckle has three flow rate setting, that are equivalent to three different rates of flow. For simplicity, we have labelled the first rate one, as in the lowest rate of flow, and then the middle rate is labelled two, because it is the second highest and the second lowest flow rate, and then the highest rate is labelled three."

"Bubbles, beware," the Professor added. "Putting any amount of Chemical X in your body like this is highly dangerous, and there isn't very much in the belt anyway. So you must try and keep it on as low a setting as possible. Only use level two in an emergency, and three in a utter crisis."

"And don't try and turn it beyond a three," Mojo said, before adding, "not that there is a higher flow rate," rather too quickly.

"That's great!" Bubbles replied delightedly. She was bubbling under with excitement. Normally Bubbles wasn't a great one for fighting, she saw it as a means to an ends – a method of stopping evil – rather then an actual form of entertainment, like Buttercup had. Today was different though. If Blossom had killed her sister, then she wanted revenge.

Suddenly a thought occurred to her. "Hang on," she queried, "how does the Chemical X get into my body?"

The Professor winced again. "There is a needle…" he began. Mojo made sure he had no need to say any more, by pressing a button on the side of the belt, to eject a half inch thick needle from the buckle. Bubbles gulped.

"Isn't that going to hurt a bit," she asked meekly.

"Oh yes…" Mojo handed her the belt, grinning from ear to ear. "I expect it shall be excruciating."

* * *

Above the three Rowdyruffs the battle continued with Princess and Blossom cannoning across the sky so fast that the boys could hardly watch. Eventually Boomer gave up, and turned to Brick.

"So what's the plan kid," he asked. "It better be a good one, because it may be our last chance."

"Oh it is!" Brick replied with slightly childish excitement. "We know we're powerful enough to hurt Blossom, but the problem is that she's fast enough to doge our attacks, right?"

"So it seems," Butch replied with interest.

"So, we need to stop her moving…"

"Hang on," Boomer interrupted, didn't you (pointing to Butch) and Buttercup already try that?"

"I know, but Buttercup grabbed her in the wrong place," Brick smirked. His smile faded briefly at the thought of his departed sister, but he gathered it up quickly. "Butch, can you do that Beam Cannon thing again?" he asked.

Butch shook his head. "Sorry, I'm really low on energy, besides, with one arm my attack options are quite limited."

Brick took a deep breath. "Okay," he eventually declared, "it's not ideal, but this is what we'll do."

As they were talking, there was an almighty crash from above, and one of the figures came shooting out of the melee, shooting towards the earth at high speed. To there amassment, it was Blossom that had been smashed, but being a professional, she was able to roll on contact with the ground, thus minimising her pain and allowing her to regain her feet in an instant. Princess landed shakily, panting heavily.

"Nice hit," Blossom laughed, seemingly unbothered. "If you built that suit your self, then you must be a bit of a genius."

"Ha…" Princess panted. "Do I look like a labourer? I don't build things, I buy them!"

Blossom nodded thoughtfully. "In that case, you've out lived you usefulness."

"Really?" Princess sniffed, "how are you going to enforce that wish!" Blossom didn't answer, she simply rushed forward, and leaping into the air kicked Princess hard under the chin. The boys winced as an awful cracking noise splintered across the battlefield. Princess landed on her back, twitching slightly.

"Easily," Blossom replied. "I figured that you had used the last of that suit's power in that last attack from how you were struggling to move. And beneath that impressive amour, you are just a normal, pathetic human, that needs to be exterminated." She raised a hand, and powered up a small energy ball, as Princess twitched again. "Goodbye…" she began.

"Now!" roared Butch, and Blossom looked round to see the Green ruff charging towards her, his one hand raised aggressively into the air.

Blossom turned her body to face Butch too. "Tad late for a suicide attack," she sneered. Butch had no intention of attacking though. When he was about four feet away, he swung his arm over, put his feet in the air and fired a blast into the ground, propelling himself upwards feet first. As Brick had planned Blossom, confused, watched Butch fly into the air, giving Boomer the time he needed to act. Racing round like a bullet, he used every bit of power he had left to propel himself behind Blossom before she could respond. Once there, he pulled hard on her long hair.

Blossom screamed in pain as her head was yanked back. Brick yelped with delight. He knew that Bubbles and Buttercup had always hated it when he'd pulled there hair, something the Professor had put a stop to. Now it was a trick that could save the world.

He powered up two energy balls. "Take this you bully!" he bellowed, but before he fired Blossom gritted her teeth and swung her head forward hard, yanking Boomer in a wide arc over her head. The blue ruff smashed the ground, and Blossom was quick to stamp hard on his back. Now it was Boomer's turn to scream, his wails joined by spots of blood as they flew out of his mouth together.

Brick's energy vanished along with his confidence, as Butch cursed high above. Blossom turned all her attention to her male version.

"Nice try kid," she smiled. "Lets see exactly how quickly you can solve a problem!" She swung her arm up palm first and blasted a wave of energy towards him. Brick yelped and side stepped it, watching in horror as it cannoned past him. Blossom calmly flicked her wrist, and the blast performed a tight hairpin turn before cannoning back towards the ruff.

"Move you idiot!" Butch bellowed, but Brick had frozen with fear. The size and power of the blast, combined with the shock of it coming back for seconds, had completely overloaded his senses. All he could do was cover his head and brace for impact.

There was a colossal explosion. Once it had cleared Brick opened his eyes. He was amazed to see that he still existed, but soon found out why. Butch, shaking in pain, had positioned himself in between Brick and the blast, thus taking the whole force of the impact. His skin was burnt and his clothes ripped, but legs and arms (well, arm) out stretched, he stood firm.

"Gee Butch," Brick murmured in surprise. "Thanks."

Butch forced a grin. "No problem kid," he croaked. Then the pain became too much, and after one staggering step backwards, he fell. Brick caught him and lowered him to the ground.

"No Butch," he sniffed, looking at his dazed eyes. "Please don't die!"

Butch didn't even have the energy to cough, but he just about managed to speak. "I'm a goner kid," she said. "Go kill that bitch for us!"

A short distance away, Boomer raised his head slowly. "No… Butch!" he murmured. Then, he felt Blossom gently wedge her foot underneath him.

"Why don't you go say good bye to your brother," she said in a tone of voice that was almost kind. "Not that it will be long before you join him." With a deft flick, Boomer was sent tumbling towards Butch. He stopped just beside him.

"Butch…" Boomer whimpered. "Why?"

Butch sneered. "Don't look so glum," he whispered. "Survive this, get Him to bring me back, and then the two of us can finally rule the world."

"Survive! How?"

"Just watch…"

Brick had stood up and looked away. Tears were streaming down his face, and his shoulders where hunched. All the events of today where too much for a kid who'd been closeted away from the world by Professor Utonium. Blossom could see this.

"Face it kid," she said calmly, looking at her finger nails. "There is no way that you can win. Sure you can cause me some problems, sort of like Marcus Gronholm taking an occasional rally win over Sebastian Loeb. But in the long run, you will always loose. Unless you retire now, and join me!" She stretched out her arms emphatically. "This is the last time that offer is open."

There was a momentary pause. Then Brick suddenly looked straight up at her, his eyes filled with rage. "NO! Those are the last words you'll ever say!" In a flash, he unleashed a massive blast that ripped up the ground as it surged towards Blossom.

Even without her scouter, Blossom could tell this attack was a potential problem. Rapidly clenching her fist, she built up some energy of her own and used it to punch the blast as hard as she could. This stopped it but it still burnt against her hand. Blossom brought her other hand down to try and stop it. Brick growled, and charged some more of his power into the attack. Blossom winced as the red glow bulged to a larger size, its' power threatening to overwhelm her.

"See," Butch whispered, his breath running short.

"My God," Boomer gasped in amazement. "He might just beat her!"

This was only a brief threat though. With a might heave, Blossom swung the blast around herself, and sent it spiralling away, straight into the body of the still immobile Princess. Brick watched in horror as his own attack vaporised their temporary ally.

"Dam it!" Butch croaked, as he seemingly breathed his last breath. Boomer thumped the ground with frustration and Brick feel to his knees. Blossom was of course delighted.

"See, I knew you were capable of killing kid!" she declared triumphantly. "Shame you can't follow orders. In Freeza's army, those who can't obey, die."

Brick looked at the ground. "I give up. Do it, if you can."

Blossom smiled, and was about to oblige, when a cold wind suddenly seemed to blow across the battlefield. Blossom turned slowly, and Brick and Boomer looked up to see Bubbles.

Or at least Boomer thought is was Bubbles. It ort to be; it was defiantly her body. But something was different… For a start, even in their life and death battles, she'd never had quite that look in her eyes.

Blossom clearly had noticed it too, as she turned to look at her sister. "Aww, Bubbles," she said, almost mockingly, "what's wrong. I seem to remember that you where always the happy one…"

Bubbles said nothing. She just stared at Blossom. Or through Blossom, as if examining her soul. The pink Puff had enough decency to squirm ever so slightly, before Bubbles turned, and walked over to where Buttercup's body lay.

Her body still had the large hole in her chest, but as Bubbles suppressed a gasp, she noticed that with her eyes closed, she looked so peaceful. Bubbles closed her eyes too and sagged for a moment. Then she focused; there would be time to mourn later.

So with only one backward glance, she walked purposely across the battlefield towards where Brick was knelt down. The young red ruff looked at her happily as she helped him to his feet. "You're here!" he exclaimed gleefully. "Has the Professor come up with a plan to save us then?"

Bubbles merely smiled weakly. "Come on, let's go over here for a moment." Ignoring Blossom (who was studying her sister studiously but patiently) they walked over to where Boomer and Butch's body lay. Bubbles could tell by Boomer's expression that both Green's had met a similar fate. For the first time ever, she felt sorry for him.

"You alright Boomer?" she asked carefully.

Boomer looked at her briefly, before staring at the ground. "I've been better," he muttered.

"I mean can you stand?" Bubbles offered a hand to him. Boomer took a deep breath to try and build up his strength, and then took it. She pulled him gently on to his feet again.

"Ow!" Boomer groaned as he let his battered back take his weight again. "I'm afraid I don't think I'm going to be much more use Bubbles," he sighed, "even accounting for our quick healing."

Bubbles nodded. "Don't worry, you've done you bit. Thanks for keeping Brick safe." She gently patted her younger brother on the head, he having retreated to his standard safety zone at one of his sister's legs.

"Ha," Boomer laughed hollowly. "Butch did most of the protecting. He was defending Brick from a blast when..." he swallowed a lump. Bubbles blinked in surprise, and looked down at her late enemy.

"I see," she whispered slowly.

"Yeah," Brick added quietly. "He was really cool! He told me that I could fight Blossom, and maybe even beat her… but now he's gone, like Buttercup." A few tears ran down his face. "We tried everything Bubbles, and she's still standing."

"Bricks right Bubbles," Boomer added. "The kid fought like a demon, but I don't even think that your "wonderful" sister was trying. She was just toying with us, and the only time she tried was when she pounded Princess and… Butch."

Bubbles nodded slowly. "Can you two go get Buttercups body for a moment? I'm going to think about the plan."

"Err…" Boomer looked nervously over at Blossom. The Pink Puff smiled patiently.

"Don't mind me," she chuckled. "Gather your dead; it will give you a chance to see close up what your bodies will be like soon."

Boomer shuddered, but he and Brick walked slowly off to where Buttercup was resting. Bubbles, now alone, looked down on Butch again.

"Thanks for saving Brick Butch," she whispered. "I guess you had some morals after all. Maybe they will help you where ever you are now."

She had turned away to see how Boomer and Brick were getting on when she heard a faint voice. _"Bubbles…"_ it hissed.

Bubbles blinked. "Butch?"

"_Bubbles…"_ the voice wheezed desperately. _"Listen to me…"_

Bubbles looked around quickly. "Where are you?" she asked.

"Behind you of course!" Butch forced himself to shout. Bubbles swung round. He was still alive…

"Please Butch," she said pityingly. "Save your strength, there might still be time."

Butch managed to cough out some Blood. His breathing had all but stopped. "Listen… forget you morals Bubbles. You must kill her."

"Kill? Blossom?"

"Yes." Butch let out a short cry of pain. "She is a monster, she can show no mercy. You mustn't either Bubbles, or everyone will die."

"But…"

"No buts!" Butch wailed. "Even Buttercup knew Blossom had to die. If there is any good left in her heart, she will ignore it. I promise you that. Don't… let me… let us … die in vain."

Bubbles shock her head. "I don't know if I can kill her Butch," she whispered.

Butch let out one last wheezing laugh. "You Powerpuffs are capable of anything," he chuckled. "That's was makes you so annoying…" With that, he was gone.

Bubbles closed her eyes for a moment, as she tried to suppress her emotions. One tear escaped, but that was all.

Boomer and Brick returned, the former with Buttercup's body tucked under his arm. "I hope you don't mind," he said to Bubbles, "but Brick doesn't want to carry her really."

Bubbles nodded. "No, I understand. So long as you don't do anything inappropriate."

"Please, I'm evil, not sick."

Bubbles managed a small smile at that, before turning back to Brick. "You think that you can carry Butch for me." Brick had gone quite again, so he nodded. "Great," Bubbles continued. "If you two could take them back to the Professor and Mojo that would be great."

The two boys' jaws dropped. "Wait!" Boomer spluttered. "You want to fight Blossom alone?" Bubbles merely nodded.

"Why?" Brick spluttered. "Didn't you say that the Professor had come up with a plan?"

"I did," Bubbles replied. She discreetly reached down to the belt, and twisted the dial up to level one. "I am the plan." Gritting her teeth, she turned to face Blossom.

Brick took a step towards her. "You can't, she'll kill you! I don't want to lose both my sisters!" Boomer however pulled him back.

"No Brick," he whispered, going slightly pail. "Look at her."

Brick looked. If he squinted he could just about see a light blue glow surrounding Bubbles and it was getting stronger with every passing second.

"Wow," he gasped. "You okay sis?"

"Go now," Bubbles said firmly, ignoring the question. "Please!"

"Come on Brick," Boomer added quietly. "Don't say it too loud but there's something different about her. Maybe Mojo and the Professor did come up with something, but she can't fight Blossom properly if she's worrying about our safety. Let's pick up Butch and go home."

Brick hesitated, but eventually he turned away, picking up Butch's now lifeless body. Boomer nodded, but then spotted something by his feet. It was Blossom's scouter.

"Hehe," he thought to himself. "She can't pick up power levels without this!" He picked it up. "If I take this away, it might give Bubbles the element of surprise." Taking one last look at Bubbles, the two boys and their precious cargo headed for Townsville once more.

Blossom watched them go with that ever present smirk still on her face. "I could blow them out of the sky you know," she said calmly.

"You dare!" Bubbles' voice was filled with danger.

Blossom turned to face her, mock horror written on her face. "Touchy!" she gasped, before returning to her more confident expression. "No, your right, it would be a bit churlish to kill them now." She cocked her head on one side. "You know Bubbles, we don't have to fight. I regret Buttercup's death as much as you do."

"I can't believe that!" Bubbles snapped.

"Why?" Blossom asked sweetly. "Do you perhaps believe then that I am justified in wanting revenge on you two?"

Bubbles opened her mouth to respond, but nothing came out. Memories dribbled slowly into her mind, memories of their initial rejection by the people of Townsville, their (brief) rejection by the Professor and then of the argument over whether they should return. She wondered briefly how she would have responded to being abandoned on a comet floating off alone into the endless depth of space.

Lacking a reply, Blossom continued. "I know Buttercup rejected my kind offer, but since she's now gone maybe you might be more favourable towards it. Then we can end this foolishness."

Bubbles smiled. "I count an extra scar on your face," she said.

Blossom sneered, as she felt out the damage that Boomer's energy disc had done to her earlier. "Perhaps "foolishness" is not the right word. "Stubbornness" might be a more fitting description." She relaxed her expression for a moment. "So stop this stubbornness Bubbles, and join me. We sisters must stick together." She ground the last sentence out from between her teeth, as if releasing some long pent up anger.

Bubbles nodded slowly. "I think I've got you pegged," she said softy. "Beneath the mask of an experienced, confident and merciless warrior, our Blossom – my Blossom – still exists. She may have been twisted out of almost all recognisable shape by years of loneliness and hatred brought on by your abandonment, but she is still there." She looked straight into her sisters eyes, as her own welled with tears. "Blossom, I beg you. Please forgive me for what I did to you and take off the mask that shrouds your soul."

Blossom's face slowly crept in to a relaxed smile and she looked back at Bubbles with no hint of any emotional damage. "Bubbles, Bubbles, Bubbles," she mused. "I could forgive you no problem, but battles are more fun when there is hatred to feed off. And pray tell me; how can I remove a mask that doesn't exist."

Bubbles sighed, and then strengthened her pose. "It exists alright," she said calmly. "I'll show it to you when I rip it from your battered body!"

"Oh please," Blossom sniffed dismissively. "As my mentor and teacher always told me, real warriors don't cry before a battle. Real warriors do this!" Quick as a flash, she charged towards Bubbles, and swung a punch straight at her head. Bubbles ducked it in an instant and kneed Blossom hard under the ribs, winding her and sending her tumbling to the ground. "What the hell?" she coughed, as she found her feet once more. "When did you get so strong?"

Bubbles stared at her hard. The compassion that had filled the blue puff's eyes only moments ago had vanished, replaced by a stony look of determination. The blue glow that she was emitting was now obvious to the eye. "Don't underestimate me Blossom," she said. "I many not be as obviously tough as Buttercup, but underneath I'm still hard core!"

Blossom gasped for a moment, but then smiled. "Good," she replied. "I was beginning to get bored."


	9. Battle for the Earth

**9. Battle for the Earth**

Blossom stood up and positioned herself on the balls of her feet, ready for action. "Whenever your ready sis," she sniffed, "give me your best shot!"

Bubbles was about to oblige but something held her back. Even though she had not been around her for very long, Bubbles knew from childhood that Blossom was almost unnaturally smart. She was going have to very careful around her; to make sure she fought this battle with her brains as well as her fists.

"What's the matter Bubbles," Blossom mocked. "I thought you wanted to protect the pathetic vermin that make up this planet!"

Anger surged in the Blue Puff, but she quickly checked it. Thanks to the chemical X and an overflow of adrenalin, Bubbles brain was working overtime and it quickly turned up a conclusion. Being a soldier commissioned to commit mass genocide, Blossom was used to fighting very angry creatures, beings who were motivated by the sight of their friends and family being obliterated by her seemingly endless power. The thought made her blood run cold, but then it hit her. If you were fighting with such anger in your heart, it was bound to make you more violent, aggressive and irrational. Hence Blossom must be used to being attacked, so it was only natural for her to try and make her strike first, preferably while as angry as possible. It was not a trap Bubbles was going to fall into.

"Actually, I'm fine here," she said sweetly, playing with her hair. "If you so bored, why don't you start us off."

"Don't play around with me Bubbles," Blossom snapped. She was clearly irritated. "I have a tight schedule to keep to and I'm already behind it! So let's get on with your slaughter." Bubbles merely raised an eyebrow. Blossom sighed. "Obviously you have no faith in your abilities and are trying to delay your inevitable defeat. Here, I'll give you a hand." She turned her back to Bubbles, and closed her eyes. "Have a free shot," she chuckled.

Bubbles didn't move a muscle. Blossom waited for a moment, but soon she became even more annoyed. "Why won't she attack," she thought. "I didn't think Bubbles was this reserved." She swung back round again. "Alright, if you're not going to fight me, I shall get back to work." She fired up a large energy ball and launched it into the air. "That's just about on course for Townsville I believe!" She laughed.

"No way!" Bubbles cried. She blasted off into the air, and palmed the ball upwards, sending it crashing off course. Blossom was upon her immediately, hitting her square under the chin. Bubbles' head flipped back, but as Blossom allowed her self a brief smile, she rocked it back forward again and unleashed an eye zap straight into Blossom's chest. As Blossom reacted to the impact, Bubbles reared up above her and smashed her with both hands down into the planet's surface.

Blossom jumped straight back to her feet, nursing a few bruises. "Impressive," she muttered, before turning slowly back to where Bubbles had been, "but it'll… What! Where… where did she go?"

In the short time she'd had, Bubbles had scooted away. She hid behind a rock, hoping to get a moment to come up with a strategy. To her surprise however, Blossom seemed completely lost.

"Maybe she can't sense my energy," Bubbles mused. "I would have thought that a technique Boomer had mastered would be possessed by anyone as talented as Blossom, but maybe they don't teach that in Freeza's army." She focused for a moment. Maybe with the extra chemical X injections, she could manage the technique herself.

Blossom has had enough. "Right, that's it Bubbles!" she roared, loosing her cool at last. "If you don't come out right now, I'll blast you out!" She started randomly eye blasting the surrounding area. The distraction was sufficiently large enough to allow Bubbles to rock up behind her and kick her hard in the back of her head. Blossom was sent spinning forward again, but she stopped her self quickly enough to turn round and deflect Bubbles' follow up blast. She also kept her eye on the Blue Puffs movement this time, so Bubbles stopped.

"Face it Blossom," she said determinedly. "You're no match for me anymore."

"Anymore?" Blossom queried. "How did you become so powerful so quickly! When we last fought I dealt with you in one punch, and that can't have been more then a few hours ago."

Bubbles tittered to herself. "Let's just say that my father and a certain Monkey are geniuses."

Blossom grimaced. "Fine, be cryptic," she muttered. "I shall be straight with you though; so believe me when I tell you that I haven't even begun to use my full strength!" She let out a high pitch scream, releasing a surge of pink energy that nearly blinded Bubbles, before charging in at unbelievable speed.

It took Bubbles all her strength to parry the first blow, but she managed to catch Blossom's hand as the pink Puff swung in a second. The two of them grappled briefly, Bubbles' face twisting with the exertion required. As she briefly managed to look up, she could see Blossom was smiling.

Bubbles broke free and drifted a few yards away, as Blossom laughed with an almost insane joy. "That's great," she said patronisingly, "for a pathetic earth rat, your doing amazingly well. But not well enough."

Bubbles mopped her brow. "The Professor won't like this, but I think I'm going to need level two!"

* * *

Boomer gently nudged Mojo's front door open with his foot. Fortunately it was unlocked, so he beckoned for Brick to follow him in.

Mojo and the Professor had been waiting in an awkward silence for news. They both rose to their feet as Brick and Boomer entered with the two bodies.

"Oh my…" gasped the Professor, clutching his face. He tried to hold back the tears, but as Boomer respectfully lay Buttercup's body down on a lab desk a few began to slip out. Brick placed Butch down hurriedly before dashing over to his adopted father, releasing all his pent up grief.

Boomer watched and the two of them hugged each other tightly as they stared at Buttercup's punched body. Then he looked at Mojo. The monkey was looking quizzically at Butch's body, in the way that someone might examine a mysterious dent they'd just found in their car.

"Lucky kid," he muttered as he looked back to Brick. The Professor was gently repeating to the red ruff that everything was going to be alright which seemed like hopeless optimism to Boomer. That didn't stop him being jealous though.

There was the sound of snapping plastic. Mojo was carefully fitting a pair of latex gloves.

"Err, what are you doing?" Boomer asked.

"Autopsy." Mojo withdrew a scalpel. "It is clear to me how Buttercup died, as in perished due to the large gap in her chest that may be more commonly described as a hole. However it is less clear as to how Butch died as there appears to be no such obvious wound or injury, other then the missing arm which in itself should not be enough to induce a fatal injury. So, having discounted the missing arm as the cause of death, as I have just discussed, I am going to conduct an autopsy on the Ruff that you know as Butch, so as to maximise our knowledge on the nature of the threat that Blossom poses and to perhaps calculate how much damage we need to cause to her to achieve the desired fatal results."

"Oh," Boomer muttered. "Your not going to cut him open are you?"

Mojo didn't reply, he simply sliced through Butch's jumper and pulled it off. An attempt to cut through his skin only broke the scalpel.

The Professor composed himself and lent over for a look himself (while still keeping Brick close.) "Very heavy burns," he murmured. "Surprisingly heavy. He must have died of internal burns, damage to vital organs etc."

"Poor Butch," Brick sniffed sadly. "And that cow Blossom didn't even seem to be trying."

"What!" Mojo went pale. "That is impossible. If it wasn't a challenge for Blossom to produce a blast this powerful, then Bubbles is going to need a higher flow rate of Chemical X, which means it won't be long before she runs out!"

Boomer spun round. "You mean that her power boost is only temporary?" The Professor and Mojo nodded sadly.

Brick stood up determinedly. "We've got to go back Boomer!" he declared.

Boomer shook his head. "No, at the moment we'll only get in the way. Besides, right now I can sense her power and it's… incredible. She might just win this before she runs out of Chemical X."

"Boomer's right Brick," the Professor added sadly. "Our Bubbles' is brighter then she lets on, she'll be aware of the situation. You rushing back in there will not only distract her, it might also tip Blossom off to the fact that all is not as it seems."

Brick looked at his feet angrily, but he didn't resist further. "Alright, fine," he muttered. "But the moment Bubbles' power starts to drop Boomer, we're off okay?"

"No problem," Boomer replied bravely, but inside he was terrified. He really didn't want to die today. He glanced nervously in the direction of the battle. "Come on Bubbles," he muttered. "Just this once I want you to win!"

* * *

Despite the wasteland that surrounded them, Blossom and Bubbles' battle was not completely free of spectators. In fact, cowering behind the remains of one of Cityville's once might skyscrapers, there were five unwilling viewers.

Upon hearing of the destruction of Cityville, the Gangreen Gang had done what any group of petty crooks would. They'd sped of to the scene to see what they could loot. Sadly for them, not only was the damage to the city so extensive that not much of value had survived, but now they were pinned down by the fight.

Snake nervously poked his head round the side of the wrecked building. There were two puff's alright, scuffling together high in the sky above them. It was difficult for him to tell what was going on though, something which was annoying Ace.

"Come on Snake!" Ace barked. "Tell us who is winning?"

"I don't know," Snake hissed back. "They're moving too fast?" He squinted for a moment, and then screamed. The rest of the gang took he hint and pulled him back in as a defected energy blast raced through the place where his head had been a moment before. It smashed into the ground around ten yards away from them.

The gang stood in silence for a moment as the dust settled, perhaps reflecting on the potential proximity of their deaths. Eventually Ace spoke. "Right, stick you head out again Snake."

"You must be mad!" Snake had his back pressed up against the wall and was sweating profusely. "I'm not going out there again!"

Ace thought about arguing with him, but chose not to. "Coward," he said instead, while (with much checking and delaying) he slowly poked his own head out.

Unfortunately, Snake had been right. To Ace's eyes the combatants were just a blue and pink blur. He knew that the blue energy belonged to Bubbles, but the owner of the Pink energy was a mystery to him. "It must have been that thing that destroyed this city!" he concluded suddenly. "I wonder if who ever it is would be interested in joining our side."

"I don't think that's very likely Boss," Billy drawled calmly. "According to the T.V, she's here to destroy the planet."

"She?" Ace pulled his head back into a position of safety. "Interesting."

"So who do we want to win?" asked Snake. Ace thought for a moment.

"Whoever isn't going to kill us, which I suppose means Bubbles…"

"Do we go and help her?" asked Billy.

"Nah," Ace replied coolly, "I think its best that we leave her to…"

Another energy blast smashed into the ground a few feet away, blowing Ace off his feet and into the wall.

"On second thoughts," Ace continued as he readjusted his sunglasses, "we should stay put for a while."

* * *

Bubbles ducked and weaved with all the speed she could muster as Blossom slung a barrage of punches and kicks at her. Now that she wasn't holding back, Blossom was proving that she was a seriously good fighter. Finally Bubbles understood that Buttercup hadn't stood a chance. If only she'd waited like she'd suggested, Buttercup might have this power now too and Blossom wouldn't have had a chance.

However, while they'd been preparing more cities would have been destroyed. Buttercup had been right, Bubbles thought, and now it was up to her to make sure her sister didn't die in vain.

Currently she wasn't getting a chance. Blossom was not over extending her attacks, which not only meant she could continue to swing at her continuously, but also that she never left an opening for Bubbles to exploit. She still hadn't managed to turn the belt up to level two as for now it was taking everything she had just to avoid getting hit.

Blossom watched determinedly as Bubbles dashed between her strikes. "Your quick Bubbles!" she grinned. "Very quick, I'm impressed! But it is nothing I haven't dealt with before." She fired a quick eye blast that surprised Bubbles just enough to allow Blossom to finally land a hit. She kicked her hard in the chest and then punched her hard in the face, sending Bubbles tumbling away. Blossom immediately set of in pursuit, overtaking Bubbles and zipping back in behind her before punching her in the small of the back.

Bubbles stopped, yelping in pain. Blossom let her float in the air for a moment, just hanging in front of her, before elbowing her back down into the ground below.

Bubbles bounced twice on landing, rolling on to her back as she did. As she lay on the ground, groaning in pain, two things occurred to her. Firstly that Blossom had chosen not to follow up her attack; she was just hovering smugly in the air above her. And secondly, that she wasn't as badly hurt as she expected. There was no reason to let Blossom know that though.

"Ahhaga!" she wailed, letting some tears of agony flow down her checks (something that had never been much of a challenge for her.) Above, Blossom allowed her self a smile.

"Dear Bubbles," she said sweetly. "I don't know how you became so much stronger, that's for sure, but I do know that it still wasn't enough to beat me."

Bubbles continued to writhe in pain, while slowly moving one of her hands down to the belt. She prayed Blossom didn't notice.

In fact, Blossom was too busy enjoying her victory to suspect anything. "You know I ort to leave you here now to die slowly and painfully, but since you are my sister I'll strike you a deal. If you tell me exactly how you increased your power so quickly, I'll end your suffering in a painless and dignified manner. How does that sound?"

Bubbles gave another brief cry of pain, but her hand was now on the buckle. She gave it a twist. The flow of Chemical X increased rapidly and suddenly it felt like molten lava flowing into her veins. Hence the next cry was genuine. It was an earth shattering sonic scream that broke the tops of the near by derelict skyscrapers and knocked Blossom completely of balance.

"What the Hell?" Blossom gasped, as she tried to steady herself against the vibrations. Down below, Bubbles was beginning to stabilise. The powerful black liquid was flowing through her arms, her legs, her chest and finally through her brain. The poor girl's body could barely cope initially, threatening to brake apart, but then it seemed to begin to adapt to this new power flowing through it. The pain died down and Bubbles could feel her muscles tightening and her blood vessels relaxing. Perhaps, given a few minutes she'd have changed enough to cope with this, but Bubbles didn't have that time.

Rolling back on to her shoulders, she propelled her self onto her feet with her arms and then rocketed into the air. Blossom only had enough time to look surprised before Bubbles ploughed into her stomach with both fists.

Winded and surprised, Blossom was left coughing up blood and bile, or would have been if Bubbles had given her the chance. Instead she launched herself into a spin and kicked Blossom hard in the side of the head, which send her sister flying into the remains of a skyscraper. What remained of the building promptly collapsed to top of her.

Bubbles drifted cautiously down towards the rubble. Blossom had taken a big hit but surely she was tougher then that. For a couple of moments however there was silence, but with her over-charged senses Bubbles could tell that all was not as it seemed.

Sure enough, there was a burst of pink energy as rubble flew into the air. The dust from the explosion temporarily blinded Bubbles allowing a furious Blossom to charge straight at her. The blue puff still wasn't looking when Blossom swung a punch but she still ducked instinctively under it, before jumping over the next attack too. Bubbles was able to open her eyes in time to doge Blossom's next strike so was able to see the burning hatred in her sisters eyes. It was the look of a person that was being roundly beaten by someone they _knew_ they were better than. Bubbles' ability to avoid every attack she launched was driving her crazy.

"Stand still for a second!" she roared. Bubbles did so immediately, choosing to grab Blossom's approaching fist, stopping it dead. Blossom struggled, but she was unable to break free to her increasing (but Bubbles' diminishing) surprise. Changing tack Blossom attacked with her other arm. Bubbles saw it coming and swung herself away using Blossom's arm as leverage to launch a flying kick at the outside of Blossom's chest and then throwing Blossom away into the air and flowing up with an eye blast.

Blossom steadied herself in time to stick an arm out to block the blast but not with out considerable pain. When she glanced at the palm of her hand and saw the burn flesh, she started to teeter on the verge of a complete mental breakdown.

Bubbles touched down gently on the ground, staring intently at Blossom. She had her, that was for sure. It was just a matter of finishing her off before the supply of Chemical X ran out. A brief brake to work out how won't hurt, or so she thought.

Moments later, there was a slight pain in her stomach followed rapidly by a burning pain in her chest. Her legs buckled slightly under her. Bubbles tried to keep a straight face but there was no way she could avoid clutching her chest with a small grimace. Fortunately Blossom was too enraged to notice so Bubbles took the opportunity to roll up her sleeve; through her arm she could see her blood vessels were throbbing blue and that her skin was going pale. "Dam it!" she muttered as her legs buckled slightly again. "I think I over did it!"

The delay had allowed Blossom to get some form of a grip of her self, although she was still mad. "Alright Bubbles!" she roared with anger. "This ends here! You may think your winning this battle but that's only because you're too fast for me to hit…" She leant backwards to force a curve in her spine, clicking a few vertebrates back into place. "But I assure you," she continued sinisterly, "you won't be dogging this next attack!"


	10. Blossom Defeated?

Sorry for the length, I couldn't find a suitable cliff-hanger so just had to keep going…

**10. Blossom Defeated?**

Blossom cackled almost insanely as she drifted higher and higher into the air. Bubbles was experienced enough to know that this was bad. She knew that she should be attacking to prevent Blossom from pulling off her plan. There was one thing stopping her though which was the fact that she couldn't move. The pain from her over charged body was too much. She just concentrated on staying conscious and keeping an eye on Blossom while not giving away quite how much trouble she was in.

Above her however, Blossom was too wrapped up in her own genius to notice. "Yes my dear sister," she sniggered. "It takes more then just strength and power to win a battle." She moved her hands into position beside her head, with the palm of the further back hand about six inches above the back of the further forward hand. Her face twisted from a look of malicious glee to a grimace of concentration. Slowly but surely energy began to build up between the hands – a sparkly aggressive pink energy.

"Another energy blast?" Bubbles mocked, trying to tease the nature of this attack out of Blossom. "What makes you think that I won't just doge it?"

Blossom laughed. "Oh you can doge this attack Bubbles and you are welcome too. But be aware that if you do this blast will pierce the earth's crust and shatter it's core; terminally damaging the planet!"

Even in her mangled state Bubbles managed to stager backwards in shock. "No! You can't! It's not possible!" she stuttered but her chemical X empowered senses told her that it was. "If you destroy the planet, how can you master Freeza use it?" she suggested desperately trying to talk her sister out of it.

"True," Blossom nodded. "But I know your going to block it – to sacrifice your life for this planet. Then I'll have won!" She fired.

The blast hurtled towards Bubbles like a wall of pink water from a bust dam. Bubbles knew this was it. She had no further options. Forcing her arms to move, she grabbed the buckle on the belt and twisted it up to maximum pumping the rest of the black liquid into her system, before with a mighty roar she thrust both hands forward and fired her own counter blast to meat Blossom's.

The two of them met with a blinding crash that bathed the surrounding area in a bright purple light. Blossom was surprised by the strength of Bubbles' counter blast but she claimed this to be a pleasant one. "Good to see you still have some fight left sis," she roared over the sound of the clashing beams, "but you must know that this is the end!"

"We'll see," Bubbles stuttered but she'd didn't have enough strength to make it audible to her sister.

* * *

From their high position in Mojo's laboratory, the Professor, Brick, Boomer and Mojo himself could see the purple light building up on the horizon. "That's incredible," Brick burbled with child like excitement. "What do you think is happening?"

The others didn't share Brick's glee. "I'd say that their having some sort of energy duel," Boomer replied nervously as the ground started to shake slightly below them.

The Professor looked very concerned. "Bubbles can't have much Chemical X left by now," he worried aloud. "If only we knew how much energy she was pumping out we could tell how she's doing."

"Ah ha!" Boomer declared triumphantly. He reached into his pocket and withdrew Blossom's scouter (which he'd salvaged earlier.) "This device should give us a clue." He fixed it briefly to the side of his face and tapped randomly at the buttons while the others waited pensively. Suddenly his jaw dropped.

"What… What is it Boomer?" Brick asked.

"She's running at fifteen thousand!" Boomer stuttered.

"Calibration!" Mojo had a pen and paper at the ready.

"My natural level is apparently two hundred and fifty!" Boomer said once he'd figured out exactly what Mojo wanted.

The monkey immediately threw the paper away. "That is impossible!" he declared. "There is no way that amount of energy could be put out by that puff, unless she disobeyed us and went t level three, which she would not do because she is a puff and therefore can not and would not be disobedient!"

The Professor looked doubtful. "She may have if she had no choice, but that would mean that she's nearly out!"

There was a moment's silence, before Brick turned to Boomer. "We've got to go back," he said earnestly. "Before its too late."

Boomer swallowed a lump in his throat and tried to suppress his fear. "I suppose your right. Hell I'd rather go to her to die then wait for her to come to us. Lets go!"

The two of them burst out the door. Neither the Professor nor Mojo tried to stop them. The former just slumped in his chair. "This is awful," he muttered. "I've doomed the world, indeed the entire human race."

"No need to rub it in!" snapped Mojo, who was obviously slightly nettled that his dream had been stolen by someone else. He stood up and walked to one of his transports.

"Where are you going?" asked the Professor.

Mojo shrugged. "If this is the end then I want to be there to see it, observe it and make notes upon it, so that I can satisfy my curiosity as to how this event shall play out. Then I may consider myself fulfilled or contented in at least some way with respect to the purpose of my life." He looked pointedly at the Professor. "Don't touch any of my stuff!"

* * *

Blossom breathed in deeply as the noise of the battle roared around her ears. She was in her element now. These energy duels where about not only power, but also will. She'd had her hands burnt many times before, often while training but the experience was now paying off. As the force on her hands weakened she knew that Bubbles was flagging. It was time to press the advantage.

"I hope your affairs are in order sis!" Blossom laughed one last time, "because you're about to meat your end!" With that and a brief roar, she finally unleashed her full power at Bubbles.

The blue puff knew it was over. She could feel the flow rate of Chemical X slowing as the supply ran dry. All her muscle's ached like never before. Even her brain hurt. She just wanted to give up and lie down, just to rest. As she stared up at Blossom's pink energy wave bearing down on her it seemed that her wish would come true. She lowered her head and closed her eyes, pain flooding through every fibre of her body. She was done.

Thoughts flooded through her head. Images of her sister Buttercup, of her adopted brother Brick and then of the Professor. She thought of all her friends, of all the citizens of Townsville; of the world. In her moment of failure she could almost hear the laughter and joy of happy people and the squeaks of animals. Everything she loved was about to be destroyed.

Something inside Bubbles broke. "No," she muttered to her self as time seemed to stop. "It doesn't end like this!" Her eyes flashed open, she gritted her teeth and raised her head up again – staring straight up into Blossom's blast once more. "I won't let you!" Tapping into an inner anger Bubbles released all her rage as energy straight at Blossom.

The blue wave of energy expanded massive and the new surge of power smashed back into Blossom's wave. The pink puff was more then surprised as her own wave was forced rapidly back. "No…" she wailed. "That's not possible!"

Bubbles gritted her teeth. "One more push!" she wailed and then with the accompaniment of a sonic scream she forced out one last burst of energy which turned out to be just about enough. Blossom could only watch in horror and fear as her own pink energy was completely dispersed and Bubbles' slammed into her hands. Gritting her teeth she fought against it briefly but it was a loosing battle. Eventually, with a high pitched scream of her own, Blossom lost her grip and the wave forced its way past her hands, smashing into her chest and propelling her up into the sky and out of site.

Bubbles stopped blasting as she gasped for breath. Her heart felt like it was going to explode. Clutching her chest Bubbles fell to her knees, trying desperately not to die. Gritting her teeth, she reached to her waist with her free hand and ripped the belt off. She yelled silently in pain as blood leaked out the open wound but the job was done. The bleeding reduced her blood pressure just about enough for her breathing and heart rate to begin to return to normal. Bubbles sagged to the floor in relief before glancing up into the sky at the trail left from her energy blast which was still sailing into the sky. She wondered idly how she found so much power and whether it had been enough.

Her thought process was interrupted by the Ganggreen gang. "Hey Bubbles!" Ace called as he led his comrades out from behind the wreckage. "Great show!" The other members nodded enthusiastically as they blurted out congratulations in their own unique ways (so lots of snorting, raspberries and farting.)

Bubbles was surprised. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Oh we heard about the destruction of Cityville on the news and decided we should come and give a hand…" Ace began.

"I thought you we were going to lo…" Billy interrupted before Ace hit him.

"But when we got here you seemed to have everything under control, so we decided it was best not to distract you."

The others nodded. "Didn't need our help anyway," Snake said stepping forward and patting Bubbles' gently on the back. The blue puff immediately fell forward screaming in pain! Snake jumped back in surprise. "What… what did I do?"

"Aghagh… its okay," Bubbles stuttered, steadying her breathing again. "I just think I over did it and wrecked my body." She laughed ironically. "Good time for you lot to try and kill me if you wish."

The Ganggreen Gang paused before looking at Ace for instruction. He took his time in coming to his decision. "Nah, we'll let you off this time," he declared. "Although Townsville's shopkeepers won't get off so lightly while you're recovering."

Bubbles found her self laughing again. "Ah, petty crime," she whispered as if reminiscing over some happy memory. "There was a time when I thought that would never happen again."

Ace nodded. "Yeah, but it will now thanks to you. Still it was lucky that you beat her before your body gave out."

"Au contra!" a voice shouted.

Bubbles didn't think she just acted on instinct; grabbing wildly at nearest person as she through her self forward out of the way of the blast. Bubbles and the member of the Ganggreen Gang she'd manage to grab (which turned out to be Ace) smashed to the earth a short distance away as dust and dirt showered down around them. Finding their footing, the two of them looked back. To their great distress the rest of the Gang where gone, replaced by a battered, burnt but furious and very much still alive Blossom.

Predictably, Ace was in shock. "They've… She… They're gone!" he wailed.

"Go!" Bubbles ordered, without taking her eyes off Blossom. "Go now!" Ace didn't need telling twice. He fled to nearby shelter as Bubbles struggled back to her feet. "You murderous, evil, twisted lunatic!" she bellowed at Blossom. "They were no threat to you!"

"I resent the lunatic comment," Blossom snapped. "You see I thought that you and your infernal sister were no threat when I arrived, so I let you live. That is a mistake I won't make again! Everyone on this planet is going to die Bubbles and once you're dead, I'll be able to take my time and enjoy it! Without your power boost you don't stand a chance."

Bubbles looked hard at the floor breathing heavily. The anger was back and this time she didn't even know it. She was too mad to comprehend her feelings. In less then the blink of an eye and with a burst of Blue energy she attacked smashing into Blossom with the force of a small earthquake.

Blossom parried the first attack and smashed her elbow into Bubbles' chest, but the Blue puff no longer cared. She just kept attacking immediately smashing Blossom so hard around the head that her brain smashed against her skull. There was no chance for her to recover her composure before Bubbles kneed her under the ribs before jumping up to kick Blossom round the back of the head, sending the pink puff staggering into Bubble's other fist. This time she hit her so hard just under the chin that Blossom was knocked clean off her feet. She landed hard on her back with a crunch, where upon Bubbles instantly stamped down hard on Blossom's chest, crushing her with all her might.

In between coughing up blood and screams of pain Blossom managed to speak. "Didn't know you had it in you Bubbles…" she croaked.

The blue puff had a broken rib and was gritting her teeth so hard that her gums were bleeding. "I'm going to kill you!" she hissed. "And I'm going to enjoy it!"

"Ha…" Blossom croaked. "Now you understand…" Bubbles froze. "The hatred," Blossom smiled. "It feels so great just to let it out." She was crying now. "I did exactly this to Buttercup," she whispered though the pain as tears rolled down her checks. "I took all the frustration and desire for vengeance out on her. All those years of loneliness, all my feelings of rejection smashed into her chest; soothed by her screams of pain." She looked straight at Bubbles now. "Go on. You hate me for killing your friends and your sister. Finish me. You'll enjoy it."

Bubbles looked at her sister through tears of her own. "Your mask has slipped," she murmured. "I told you I'd remove it." She released her foots pressure. "I can't kill you," she said.

"I know," Blossom croaked. Immediately she grabbed Bubbles' ankle and threw her to the ground. Bubbles wailed in pain as her battered body smashed against the floor. Blossom scrabbled to her feet and kicked Bubbles under the her back sending her rolling slowly away. "That's your problem Bubbles," Blossom growled through gritted teeth. "You were strong enough physically to remove my mask, but not strong enough mentally to finish me off afterwards." She grinned maliciously. "The mask of a hardened solider is gone, all you have left is the crazy, angry, vengeful little girl. And I'm going to enjoy your slow death!"

* * *

As they raced to the scene Brick suddenly let out a yell. "Agh!" he wailed. "Look Boomer, she's beating Bubbles terribly! We've got to do something!"

Boomer looked up and then grabbed Brick's shoulder. "Quick, lets get to the ground and sneak up on her among the rubble. Then we can really get the drop on her!"

"Right!" Brick agreed. The two of then thudded to the ground and were sprinting around the wreckage of a skyscraper when Ace jumped out in front to them.

"What are you doing!" he wailed at them. "Are you mad! That Blossom's unstoppable!"

"So?" Brick replied.

"We know," Boomer nodded, "but we're going to die anyway if she wins so I thought we'd give it a go."

"You never know," Brick continued, "we may win."

"Perhaps you could give us a hand?" Boomer suggested. "We could do with any help we could get."

"Your crazy!" Ace gibbered. "I'm not going back out there!"

"What are you? A coward?" Brick protested but Boomer cut him off.

"Yes he is and we don't have time for this. We need to attack Blossom somehow before Bubbles bites the dust… I never thought I'd say that." The two Ruffs sprinted forward again as Ace with a brief backward glance kept fleeing.

* * *

Finally there was no coming back for Bubbles. She'd pushed her body too far and now it was refusing to do anything it didn't want to do. Slowly she tried to get up again as Blossom watched over her waiting for the perfect moment.

Rolling lazily on to her front Bubbles was able to push her self up onto all fours, gasping due to the pain as she did so. Blossom did nothing until Bubbles had managed to completely straighten one arm which due to her sister's weakness took quite a long time. Then she kicked her hard at the elbow instantly shattering the limb.

With a yelp of pain Bubbles' crashed back down to the floor again. Blossom meanwhile leapt into the air, performed a smooth pirouette at the top of the jump (purely for style) and then smashed back down to earth with all her force on Bubble's pelvis. The Blue puff's hips immediately broke accompanied this time by a far more dramatic scream. It was music to Blossom's ears.

Slowly, she leant down and gently picked Bubbles up by the scruff of her throat, raising her battered sister up until she was level with her face. Through blearily eyes Bubbles took a swing at her with her healthy arm but it was so weak now that Blossom let the attack bounce of the side of her head harmlessly before grabbing it with her free hand and snapping the bone like a twig.

"There we go," she simmered happily. "Job done I think." Somehow Bubbles managed to respond with what Blossom thought was a laugh. "What's so funny?" she demanded.

Bubbles chuckled up some blood. "You talk tough," she replied hoarsely, "but I know you're not going to kill me. I'm you last connection to anything. You have no friends or family out there in the universe."

Blossom laughed her self. "Poor naïve Bubbles. We don't need them. Friends can betray you and you family are just more rivals that happen to have started at the same place. The only thing that matters out there is the quest for power!"

"Precisely." Bubbles coughed up some bile this time. "You need more then that. As much as you hate it you are an earthling. Only an earthling could be capable of this amount of hatred. But you need the other things two; friendship, family. Love."

"Shut up!" Blossom shouted, but Bubbles ignored her.

"That's why you are so twisted," she continued as if realising this all her self, "and that is why you won't kill me. Because then you would be completely alone. You can't face that. I can see it in your eyes."

Blossom was so mad she looked like she was going to explode. "See this!" she screamed as she punched Bubbles straight in the eyes, blinding the blue puff in a stroke. She tossed Bubbles to the floor, but through the blood and tears Bubbles was still laughing.

"Another recoverable injury," she laughed (as much as someone that can barely breathe can laugh of course.) "You know that if given enough time I will heal. This has happened to you before."

Blossom gnashed her teeth. "You're wrong!" she hissed. "I may be alone but I get my solace through killing! I don't need you or anything else!"

"Prove it," Bubbles replied with the last of her strength. "Kill me now."

Blossom sneered. "As you…"

Suddenly she heard something whistling through the air. Experience told her not to look but to move. Jumping into the air she managed to just about skim over the top of a red cutting disk before diving underneath a blue one that was following just after. Furiously she spun round to see Brick looking mortified and Boomer cursing wildly about twenty feet away. Then she noticed something else; her body might have avoided the attack but her hair had been too slow. It now only descended half way down her back. This finally pushed her over the edge.

"You cowardly insects!" she screamed. "Do you know how long it took me to grow my hair that long? Don't answer that!" She finished as Boomer opened his mouth to speak.

"Nice idea Boomer," Brick said to his ally, "but it looks like we're going to have to take her head on." He perked up slightly. "But hey, Bubbles has done a lot of damage so maybe we have a chance."

Boomer never had the chance to sound a note of caution because Blossom was immediately upon them. Dashing into the small gap between the two Ruff's, Blossom blocked a reaction punch from Boomer while elbowing Brick hard in the back before swinging round to kick him skyward. Brick – stunned more then hurt – eventually crashed onto the ground at the end of his arc but Blossom's objective had been not been to finish off Brick but to isolate him from Boomer. That done it didn't take her long to break down Boomer's defences despite his best efforts. Boomer blocked the first few punches valiantly before Blossom was able to flick his hands out the way with her left and sink her right straight into his stomach knocking all the air out of Boomer's lungs. Blossom then jumped up to head height and kicked Boomer under the chin sending him tumbling away.

As he crashed across the ground, Blossom allowed her self time to stop and observe for a moment. Sure enough, Boomer was out for the count, unable to cope with the strength of Blossom's attack. Cursing herself for messing around with them earlier and breathing jerkily due to her broken ribs, Blossom turned and did her best to stride confidently over to Brick. Petrified, Brick could only watch as Blossom slowly limped towards her. She towered menacingly over him her shadow blocking out the sun.

"Right punk!" she hissed through the pain. "It's just me and you now and I'm going to make you pay for rejecting my… AGHHAAG!"

The "AGHHAAG" was the result of a knife being trust through her armour and into her back. Blossom flopped forward just in front of Brick to revel Ace, who'd slipped back almost unnoticed.

"That's for my Gang!" he bellowed triumphantly. For a moment Blossom didn't move but then she managed to twitch before reaching her arm up and pulling the blade slowly out. Ace and Brick both staggered back as Blossom shakily found her feet. "What does it take to beat this guy?" Ace stuttered as Blossom swung round.

"Bad time to decide to be a hero," Blossom croaked, grabbing him by the neck and punching him hard in the face. Earlier this would certainly have killed him but Blossom was so weaken that the most damage was done to Ace's glasses. The second punch broke his jaw and the third never came because Brick had finally attacked.

He punched Blossom square in the back, right where she'd been stabbed. Blossom dropped the battered Ace and staggered forward, screaming briefly before turning to face the Ruff.

"This is it Blossom," Brick shouted determinedly. "Buttercup believed in me and so did Butch. Now I'm going to prove them right!"

Blossom couldn't respond. She could block Brick's first punch though before slapping the surprised Ruff across the cheek. "Don't get cocky," she wheezed. "I'm still standing and you still have no idea how to fight!"

* * *

Bubbles could see it in her minds eye. Sure Blossom's attacks had left her blind but the Chemical X had left her able to focus her mind like never before. She could almost see Brick flailing away at Blossom like an angry child – which of course he was. Sadly she wished that she and Buttercup had trained him, even just a little bit. Blossom was so frail now it would only take one good attack but as long as Brick kept fighting like this she was able to parry his blows. Soon the Ruff would be tired and the Puff would be recovering. The whole battle was hanging by a thread.

Suddenly Bubbles felt another presence standing over her. "Mojo?" she muttered.

The monkey jumped. "Yes it is I, Mojo Jojo who is here. Tell me, how where you able to identify that it was me sanding here as opposed to any other person or persons since you appear to be blind?"

"Oh I just had a feeling," Bubbles said truthfully. "You come to finish me off then?"

"I wasn't even thinking of it," replied Mojo no so truthfully. "I just wanted to see the end. I, Mojo Jojo desire closure and to see what this life is all about. So I want to be present when the planet is destroyed, along with myself and my dreams."

Bubbles was thinking. "Mojo," she asked. "Would you like to save the world?"

"No," replied the monkey instinctively. "I would like to conquer the world and crush all my enemies under foot, especially you two Powerpuff girls… or one now I suppose."

"Quite," Bubbles let it slide. "You can still have that dream Mojo."

"I can?"

"Yes. Listen do you remember the time you tricked the Professor into giving you powers like us?"

"Of course!" Mojo replied proudly. "It was a great achievement of mine!"

"Can you remember what it felt like," Bubbles asked.

"It felt great a wonderful feeling of smugness spread through my body…"

Blossom was recovering. She was beginning to pick up enough speed to doge some of Brick's more wayward swings now.

"No no no, do you remember what the energy felt like," Bubbles pressed.

"Err…"

"It's important."

Mojo thought for a moment. "Yes, I suppose I do. Why to you ask me?"

Bubbles managed a smile. "I've still got some power left Mojo. It's not much but it should still be enough to finish Blossom. The problem is that I can't fire it at her because of my blindness and broken limbs."

"So?"

"Take my hand."

Mojo paused – he wasn't used to taking orders from a Puff. Curiosity prevailed however and he grabbed Bubbles' limp hand. The Blue puff winced in pain as one of her broken arms was moved but then she concentrated. Mojo jumped in surprise as Blue energy began to surround his hand. Presently Bubbles released her grip and Mojo was left staring at the energy sparking of his hand.

"What… What is this?" he was almost speechless.

"It's my energy," Bubbles replied weakly. Without it she'd gone slightly pale. "It probable feels a bit weird because its affecting the Chemical X in you inflated brain."

Mojo nodded as with much focusing he managed to force the energy into a blue ball. "Yes! Now I throw it at her right?"

"Yep, but make sure you hit. We only get one shot and she's very quick. Also not being used to such power your body might find the experience quiet stressful."

Mojo looked up. Brick and Blossom were still duelling, drifting across the sky at a surprisingly rapid rate. "Curses," he muttered.

* * *

Brick was getting frustrated. Blossom was just getting fast and faster as every one of his attacks failed to break her defences. Time was running out so in desperation he made one last massive lunge for Blossom's face.

This went badly as she ducked underneath it before finally launching an attack; sticking her arm up and grabbing him by the neck.

"Too slow," she mocked and although her voice still sounded weak, Brick could tell from her grip that she was quite strong enough. Blossom's face was still highly stressed though as she desperately tried to persuade her reluctant hand to crush Brick's neck.

"Now!" shouted Bubbles. Blossom turned to see Mojo throwing a huge energy ball at her. For a vital moment she hesitated. Brick didn't. Forcing himself forward he head butted Blossom with all his strength.

Everything happened at once. Mojo, his brain adversely affected by his attack collapsed unconscious as Blossom was sent spirally down towards the blast. It smashed into her with a massive explosion that Brick was caught up in. He crashed to the ground largely okay, but also out cold. Moments later the heap of flesh and bones that was Blossom also smashed to the ground, largely not okay. Then, for a moment, there was silence.

* * *

Boomer sat up. His body ached but he was in one piece. Looking around he assessed the situation. Bubbles down, Mojo down, Brick down. This was not good. Then he saw it. Blossom lying battered and motionless on the ground. They'd won!

"Ha, she's dead!" he declared triumphantly. "Good riddance to a bad egg!" he declared. However to his horror, Boomer was wrong.

Slowly there was a tiny bit of movement from Blossom's left hand. Struggling to breathe let alone move, Blossom grabbed some sort of remote control from her pocket and pressed one button, before going completely limp again.

Boomer watched and shortly afterwards something appeared on the horizon. It was a small white ball which rapidly got larger as it approached. It landed gently next to Blossom before opening it's door. The puff with a great deal of effort rolled slowly on to her front and started to crawl towards it.

"That must be her space ship!" Boomer realised. He gritted his teeth as he staggered to his feet. "If she thinks that she's going to sneak out of here after all she's done then she's got another thing coming!"

Gingerly he limped towards her. Blossom's progress was painfully slow so he could afford to take his time.

"Hey, Boomer!" Boomer looked round to see (much to his surprise) Ace in a battered heap and pointing to a knife. "Use that, I was able to wound her with it."

Boomer picked it up. The blood on it was still fresh. "Yeah…" he grinned. "This ort to do it!"

Blossom had reached the door of the ship when Boomer thrust the knife at her throat. She instantly froze. Boomer was grinning like a hyena. "You said we'd need forty of us," he laughed jerkily, "so how does it feel to be killed by one?"

Blossom looked at him. "Kill me if you can," she hissed weakly.

"With pleasure!" Boomer roared pulling the knife back before plunging it forward towards her. Blossom braced herself for the end.

"Stop!" wailed Bubbles. To Blossom and his own amazement, Boomer did.

"Bubbles?" he asked.

"Boomer, don't kill her, please," Bubbles continued. "Let her go."

"You must be nuts!" Boomer began. "After what she's done?"

"I know what you're thinking," Bubbles stuttered weakly, "but please, show her what it is to be merciful."

"Merciful!" Boomer almost exploded. "Need I remind you that she killed my brother… and your sister! We're standing in the remains of a city of millions that she vaporised and you want me to show her mercy!"

"I know it is hard for you to understand Boomer," Bubbles replied, "but I've felt her pain, I know what she's really like. If we show her that mercy is something real, not just something she's heard about then I think she can change."

"You think!" Boomer was still furious. "Bubbles you naive fool, people like this don't change. If we let her go she is just going to think we're weak!"

"All I'm asking Boomer is for you to show the same mercy we've shown to you so many times. Buttercup and I could have killed you two on many occasions since your return but we never did."

Blossom had been taking advantage of this distraction to try and scramble into her ship but she slipped falling back to the floor and alerting Boomer once again to her presence. He put the knife back to her throat. "I don't have to listen to you Bubbles! That was different. Butch and I never killed anyone."

"Then don't lower your self to her level!" Bubbles cried. Boomer froze. "I know you want to rule the world and destroy us Boomer," Bubbles continued, "but you and Butch both proved to day that you have a moral fibre. Butch even gave his life for this planet and you willingly risked yours. That moral fibre is your soul Boomer, it makes you who you are. It is your loyalty to Butch as well as your desire not to kill those weaker then you. Don't give it away in return for the so called justice of revenge. You may be evil but your better then her and you know it! Her death will just be another pointless corpse on this battlefield. It won't heal your pain."

Boomer was struggling. "But she's a monster…" he protested.

"No Boomer," Bubbles replied. "With one different choice she is you or me."

Boomer pulled the blade back again, his face a contortion of rage. Blossom flinched away but Boomer didn't stab her. The knife fell to the floor. Regretting every movement, Boomer stood up straight and stepped back.

"Thanks Boomer," Bubbles muttered weakly. "That took a lot of strength."

The Blue ruff sighed. "You better be right about this Bubbles," he muttered, "but if she does come back, we'll be here to stop her!"

"Right!" Bubbles chuckled. "That means you won't be able to kill me, right?"

"I guess not," Boomer mused. "When I rule the world then I'll just have to lock you in a secure cell."

Blossom had scrambled into her ship. She flopped in the seat (which took up all the tiny craft) and turned to Boomer as the door slowly closed. "I will return," she hissed weakly, "and when I do no position of power will help save you."

The door snapped shut and the craft levitated away into space leaving Boomer and Bubbles alone with Cityville's ruins.

* * *

Okay, that (as some will know already) is it for part one. Our remaining heroes will be returning in a new story soon when they try to bring back their fallen comrades and I shall be starting that soon – either as a new story or as a continuation of this one. Whatever, it will be clearly labelled to keep your eyes open.

Also I may be doing something with my other series very soon to watch this space! Thanks for reading and thanks to all those who reviewed.


End file.
